Running the Gauntlet

I am all of me

Garden

I opened my eyes to see the older me crouching down with his hand outstretched to me. I grabbed a hold of it and he raised me up.

"Again I'm sorry about that. Was it painful?" He asked me with worry. His eyes were red just like that vision/memory I had.

"What's going on? Who are you?" I asked, noticing I was back in my soul space. The endless black ocean with the white eclipse.

"Well that's an easy question. I'm you and you're me. Just different timelines." He said like, it made sense.

"What?" I was confused.

"And it appears my goal is working considering this." He said touching my face where my scar was. "They're different so I was right." He took his hand away.

"Again what?"

"You got that from the Chimera right?" I nodded.

"Good because that's where I got this from." He said pointing to his scar that started on his cheek and ran down to his shoulder. He was wearing a simple black Metallica shirt and cut jeans.

"Why am I talking to you or myself? I don't know the proper terminology for this." I said.

"I can't explain right now till you understand why." He explained and if this is how I talk I'm sorry to anyone I've had a conversation with.

"That doesn't make any sense. At all." I explained.

"Till I show you I mean. That dream you had a couple days ago was one of my memories."

"Oh because that makes sense." I said sarcasm dripping from my mouth.

"I was the one who taught you how to fly also." He explained.

"It seemed like you've had to explain it before, have you? Because you did well."

His eyes gained a cold and distant look. Full of anger and sadness. "Yes, I've explained it before."

"Do you wa-"

He cut me off. "No. I do not." He said seething.

"Something I learn later?" I asked and he nodded.

"So what are we gonna talk about right now if you can't explain why we're talking?" I asked, he thought for a moment and his eyes lost that cold look.

He looked up to the eclipse and closed his eyes and took a deep breath and with a soft voice he spoke.

"We're special us. Not an ounce of humanity in us."

I was too stunned to speak.

"It's not really for me to tell you, it's mom's job Persephone I mean." He paused looking at me. "In a way we are a blueprint. Hard for me to explain and I don't think you can comprehend it from me."

I took a few moments to think of a response.

"Is that why you killed our friends? Percy?"

That look of sadness came back. "No, not entirely. I still regret everything I did."

"Then why did you fight those heroes that I saw?"

"Something happened that broke me, and I was just angry. So I took it out on the world and my curse got the better of me, so I wasn't thinking with my head, just my hunger."

"What do you mean curse?"

"I can't really explain anything specific about what happens to you, it'd break your mind. Just know to always go to your friends and the people you love. Because they are the most important things in your life and I threw that away."

"I'll always go with my friends. There is nothing that could stop that."

"There are certain times when power is so intoxicating that you'd do anything for it."

"I'd never betray my friends."

"I hope you don't because if you do then all of this means nothing."

"Can I ask you something? "

"You just did but go ahead." I glared at him.

"Can I trust you? How do I know you won't betray me or anything that you said was the truth? That you're actually me or any of that."

"You don't know, but if you value the people in your life. You." He said, poking my chest. "Need to trust me."

"Okay. I understand." I looked up into the unending void. "So when am I getting the next memory?"

"I'm not sure." He said. "I'll do it when I know it won't fry your brain."

"Oh great, if I see too much my brain will explode."

"More like your existence will collapse." He said nonchalantly. And I just looked at him like he was crazy.

"Collapse?"

"Yeah. Pretty much." He said bluntly. "So you're about to wake up. Do not tell anyone about me or anything of the sort. Either two things will happen, you will be struck down or erased."

"It seems like you're nothing but bad for me."

"Quite the opposite Garden. Remember what I said." He sank into the water under us as the void took over and I woke up with my heart racing and my head pounding from the headache.

I looked around and saw the others looking at me with worry. I'd never betray them and that's a promise.

"Are you okay Flowers?" Annabeth asked, looking at my head.

"Yeah. You've got a bloody nose." Percy said as Grover handed me a water bottle.

"I'm fine, just tripped I guess." I said taking the water and drinking it. "You get the thing we were looking for?" I asked.

Percy nodded, showing me the shield we were tasked with getting. "Good I've got to tell that meat head something." I said getting up and brushing my pants off.

"Let's get going." Percy said, taking us to the exit of Water Land.

"So what happened when I left?"

Percy then explained a whole bunch of stuff like Cupid statues firing bows at them, a golden rope, almost being broadcasted to Olympus, a lot of metallic spiders crawling after them (apparently Annabeth was really scared), the water accelerating the boat they were on, and finally jumping off at the last second and being caught by Grover smashing into a photo board.

"Man you guys have all the fun without me." I complained. "All I got was a bloody nose."

"Of course you'd want to do it. You're insane." Annabeth said.

"I think you're not fun Brains." I winked at her, in retaliation she stuck her tongue out at me.

"We're going to talk to Ares. You mentioned something about talking to him. What was it?" Percy asked.

Just thinking about it made me angry. I wanted to equip my gauntlets and demolish this stupid water park. Take his shield and shove it down his throat, beat him till my gauntlets wore down and were nothing. "Just wanted to speak my mind is all." I said walking forward ahead of them and leaving Water Land.

(Sorry that it's short just wanted to write something and get some Garden stuff out.)