artemis ; pjo

Feelings

Not long after we began walking we plunged into darkness.

   Ben had his hand wrapped around mine, which was super uncomfortable and awkward. The only reason I let him do this was because he knew the way and I didn't. I was walking blindly in the darkness, not sure where we were going. I couldn't tell where we had come from and where we were going. We were engulfed in darkness.

"How do you know where your going?" I asked.

"Us Agarthans can see in the dark. Just one of our many amazing abilities" Ben said in a lofty tone.

"Noted" I said, trying to hide my irritation.

I stayed silent, mostly trying to blow off some steam, before continuing.

"What are you doing back here? You shouldn't have come back" I said.

"Someone saw me. The punishment is death. So I hid. I snuck my way back here because I needed to warn you guys before, well, the thing downstairs. I was too late, but I've studied the architecture of this building for years, and I figured out where all the entrances and exits were" Ben explained.

"Wow. Uh, thanks is the least I could say. I-"

He cut me off.
"Amanda, it's fine. Don't worry about it"

"But you've done so much for me and my friends, and you even sacrificed your reputation. Ben, you-"

   Ben spun around in the dark and cupped my cheeks with his hands, bringing my face less than an inch from his. I felt his cool breath as he leaned in even closer. His lips barely touched mine before my adrenaline kicked in and I pulled back so hard I fell. Even though I couldn't see Ben in the dark, I could feel his confusion and shock.

"Oh gods" I said so quietly, I'm not even sure I said it out loud.

"Aman-" Ben started.

I cut him off.
"What was that?!" I screamed, more to myself than Ben.

"Aman-"

"What just happened? Oh my gods" I said to myself, breathing heavily. I looked at him, or at least where I thought he was.
"Ben?" I asked for his input.

"Amanda," Ben said taking a step towards me (I think), "I'm so sorry. I just thought, you know, that you liked me the way that I like you"

"I'm aware that I've known you for about 4 hours, but that was more than enough time to figure it out. It was love at first sight, for me, at least" Ben explained.

   I didn't know what to say to that, in fact, I had zoned out. My thoughts were swirling around in confusion, and there may have been a microscopic hint of anger. Maybe.

Ben continued.
"You're smart, pretty, funny, head-strong, kind, gracious. The whole package. There aren't girls like that down here. You're perfect"

I stood up slowly.
"This. Never. Happened"

"Not for you, but for me it did. I will wait" Ben decided.

"Take me to my friends. Now" I demanded with anger in my voice.

   Ben nodded and continued walking, but didn't grab my hands this time. I squinted in the dark and I could make out his feet, so I followed those. After an extremely long and awkward walk, I saw a pinpoint of light to the left. We both turned and walked towards it. I pulled ahead of Ben and ran to the light.

   My eyes took time to adjust to the bright light as I stepped into the open door frame. I looked around and saw my friends tied to chairs and gagged facing what looked like a television screen. My footsteps echoed and Gabby must of heard it because she freaked out and looked behind her.

   Her eyes sorted when she saw me, and the others turned around too. I began to untie Gabby, and Ben walked in the room. He started to untied Dan. Gabby pulled off her gag and looked at me.

"I'm so glad you're okay" she said, "We saw you in the arena. You do nice work"

Gabby gestured to the television monitor, and I saw the dead body of the giant.

"Thanks" I said, and I turned away to untie MK.

   Gabby started rubbing the feeling back into her wrists and stood up to help untie. Soon everyone was untied and we shared our sides of the story. Including Ben, well, he and I both left out the 'incident' that happened.

"Wow Ben, thanks. That's a lot for you to do" Gabby praised.

He shrugged and glanced at me, while I pretended not to notice.
"It's not horrible, but I can never show my face in Agartha again"

"Oh, well, we can't let that happen. You should come with us. It's the least we could do. You could stay at Camp Half-Blood. Is that okay Amanda?" MK suggested.

I nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact with Ben. Suddenly, I found a new interest in the floor!

"So," Ben said, clapping his hands together, "Exit time?"

"Yeah, it's exit time" Dan agreed.

Dam guys (😉), by now you can tell that I'm crappy at staying on schedule. So instead of the promised 3 updates, I give you 2.

I'm sorry.

I'm going to try to update as much as I can this week (which is about 2 updates 😜).

I'll work on my update schedule.

Bye.