ATLANTIS | j. grace

nine

ELLE DREAMT OF PERCY.

He lay a sprawling marble floor, surrounded by ruin. Broken statues and fallen columns lay around him in pieces. Percy was motionless on the ground, staring straight at Elle. His eyes were empty, void of the love they held whenever they landed on his twin. His face was wiped of all emotion. A long, bleeding gash stretched from his right eye to the bottom of his jaw. A short, celestial bronze dagger stuck out of his chest. Blood dripped from the wound, staining his shirt and tainting the sand.

He was dead. And Elle hadn't been there to save him.

"Elle!"

She jolted awake. Gasping heavily, Elle's eyes searched wildly to get her bearings.

Jason, Piper, and Leo had all twisted in their seats to look at her. Jason was concerned, lips downturned, eyes wide. Piper was... afraid. She kept looking between Leo and Elle, as if silently asking for his opinion. He didn't glance her way. He was staring sadly at Elle, eyes sympathetic.

"You were screaming," Piper explained. She sent Leo another quick glance. "And you wouldn't wake up."

Elle tore her eyes away from all three of them, staring at her lap. Sitting up straight, she unwrapped her arms from Jason, putting distance between them. Not a second later, a cold breeze ripped through her sweatshirt and she longed to have his warmth back.

"I'm fine," she said. She tried for her words to sound light and thankful for their concern, but they rang back in her ears filled with defensiveness and anger.

All three looked hurt by her snappy tone, diverting their gazes.

Elle felt bad. It wasn't them she was mad at. It was her father, Hera, and Gaea. But most all; herself. Why couldn't she just pull herself together? No one else was screaming in their sleep or sobbing into their pillows.

Piper must have sensed the group's desperate need for a new topic, as she said, "I think we're here. Look."

Elle, along with the boys, followed where she was pointing. Far below them, a city sat on a cliff overlooking the river. Everything was dusted with snow, which glittered like tiny diamonds under the early-morning sun. The city was full of crowded buildings inside high walls. In the center was a massive, castle-like building with brick red walls and a peaked, mint-green roof.

"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop," said Leo.

Elle laughed. Leo's nicknames may not have been the best, but she was growing incredibly fond of him and his jokes.

"Yeah, Quebec City," Piper replied in confirmation. "One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded around sixteen hundred or so."

A crooked smile pulled at Leo's mouth as he raised an eyebrow. "Your dad do a movie about that too?"

Piper made a face at him. "I read sometimes, okay? Just because Aphrodite claimed me, doesn't mean I'm an airhead."

A memory returned to Elle. An image of a girl with dark curls and blue eyes. She was wearing Greek armor, which had taken serious damage. If this girl was once beautiful, you couldn't tell now. Her face had been so horribly burned Elle couldn't make out a single feature but the color of her eyes. They were vibrant blue, once filled with love, now as empty as Percy's had been. She was dead.

Silena, thought Elle.

Immediately, Elle spoke up, words defensive and tone hostile. "They're not all airheads. Most of them are brave. They've just lost their way with Drew in charge."

Piper turned her head to stare at Elle for a brief moment. When she turned away, Elle saw the disagreement in her eyes. She seemed to say, How would you know?