Maelstrom

Twenty

[aliquid stat pro aliquo]

Returning after a sorely won battle always felt like moving in slow motion to Reese. He could never put his finger on the cause, even after years of fighting battles and waging wars. Maybe it was the combined exhaustion of all those who'd fought, or maybe it was the heaviness in their hearts as they realized that there would be another battle, another death, to see soon. Wars never got easier with time, Reese found. Soldiers always became desensitized to cruelty instead.

Reese slouched through the doorway of Nectar & Ambrosia, each movement as if it weighed a thousand pounds. He didn't need to look up in order to know that, like clockwork, the wounded would be shuttled to one of the many cots in their makeshift infirmary, the others would file into the elevator up into their living quarters, and the leaders would consult with Tessa to determine their next move.

It wasn't long until, like clockwork, there was no one left on the main floor of the café except Reese and his friends.

Slowly, the gravity of the situation came back to Reese in ebbing tides. When he was fighting, he'd become skilled at shutting out his emotions so he could focus. It was an effective skill, but of course, battles didn't end once its fighters left the battlefield. It remained with them in lingering fears and heart-wrenching concerns for those who had not been so lucky.

Reese closed his eyes, taking a breath. He was lucky. He'd bore the Curse of Achilles for years now, and save one very particular place, his skin was like steel. Although the Curse was exactly that: a curse. A burden to carry for the rest of his life, or at least until something else wiped it away. By stepping into that river, Reese had sealed his fate as a soldier, a weapon for an endless war...

The water seemed to burn away at Reese's skin, melting his flesh right down to bone. His head fizzed with excruciating pain, as if it was splitting open, being replaced with steel. Reese opened his eyes, remembering what Flynn had told him. He needed to focus, on that which would keep him tethered to the mortal world, or else he'd burn up entirely.

And suddenly he wasn't in the River Styx, but Long Island Sound back at Camp. The water sparkled under the summer sun. Three plumes of bubbles pierced the water's surface, and suddenly Reese was staring at the faces of his friends: Kaden, Tessa, Mark. They were all swimming about underwater, waving up at the surface. Reese followed their gaze and standing atop a duo of canoes were Dale, Flynn, Amelie, and Sierra. Sierra and Flynn caved, leaving Dale and Amelie to look at one another and roll their eyes good-naturedly.

The pain seemed to numb entirely at that. Tessa and Kaden began racing for the surface, Mark tapped Reese's shoulder and gestured for him to follow, and Reese did exactly that, kicking up until he took lungfuls of sweet air...

Kaden's groaning brought Reese entirely out of his memories. He turned his attention over to where the son of Venus was laying in a cot, with none other than Reese's mother treating the sickly wound on Kaden's side.

"Kaden, dear, I need you to hold still," Reese's mother was saying.

"Easier said than done," Kaden winced, gritting his teeth as Ms. Hale lowered her hand to Kaden's side. She pressed the cloth to his wound, and Kaden released a guttural howl of pain.

"Mom," Reese snagged his mother's attention. Anytime she met his gaze, she looked partially spooked, as if she still couldn't believe her eyes. Reese nodded to Kaden. "I think you're killing him."