The Afterlife (HoO Fanfiction)

The Aftermath

Hello! Do you remember Rick's message at the beginning of House of Hades? Well, that's exactly what we'd like to write right now. Hahaha, seriously, we added trigger warnings in the tags, even if we know that might not be necessary. Like if there was a TW before The Burning Maze I don't know if I'd gave read it, it's a bit spoilery no? Anyway, I added grief also, therefore buckle up for the rest. Sorry if this sounds depressing, but we had the feeling that YA novels don't really represent very well the effect that dealing with death can have on kids, so we tried the best as we could. But don't worry, you'll soon understand who's the bad guy in this crazy story. Happy reading, and as always, comments are much appreciated :)

-E&C

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~Piper~

The captain was facing me, waiting for an answer. A ray of moonlight was shining on her amber-coloured face and a light breeze blew in her long, dark hair. She had a stern face and had a semi-amused, semi-disgusted smile. She was observing me so intensely that I felt stripped naked. I had no idea of what she knew about me, but she looked like she could decipher me without mistake.

"I will never accept this!" I shouted at the young woman. "You are asking me to betray my friends. Not a chance this will work."

"Very well," she answered. Then, she only had one move to make for the guards to throw themselves at me again. She disappeared once again into her cabin, glancing at me one last time. I didn't have the time to come back to my senses before being attacked from all sides. I tried to defend myself in an uncontained dance with the guards. To the left, to the right, again to the left, light on my feet, I dodged the blows. I made a guard roll away from me and hit another one to the face. However, the guards were outnumbering me.

Suddenly, I was wiped out and thrown to the ground a few feet away. Someone caught me from behind and put a cloth over my mouth in order to stop me from using my charmspeak. I tried to fight, in vain. I was tied by a guard who was reeking of fish. He dragged me against my will to the hold. I could only catch a glance at the stars one last time, hoping to see Jason in the sky. He didn't appear.

I was taken in a cell and I heard the guard locking the heavy door behind him and his footsteps subsided. It was pitch black, I couldn't see in front of me. I was trying to find a way to get out by punching the cold walls. I felt like I was back in the dirty cave in which I was caught by cyclops with Jason and Leo. Nothing helped, I was stuck. I hoped that Jason and Percy could keep the ship from going away, taking me with it.

I still felt the boat rocking beneath my feet, a sign that the storm was still raging on outside. I sat back down in the cell, trying to find a way to get out of this situation. I wasn't Annabeth or Leo. Confronted to metal walls, I didn't know what to do. It was easier for me to get out when I was with people, using their emotions to my advantage.

How did I get myself in this situation? We never should have split the group, what were we thinking? We weren't invincible. Maybe we had stayed too long at Camp Jupiter and we had forgotten our vulnerability. We were considered to be heroes, after all. By at what cost? Did I ever feel safe? The coldness of the metal was piercing my clothes and made me realize quickly that no, I was not safe and I never had been. I wondered when I was going to get a break from all this when I was going to have the right to rest. Dozens of demigods could only find peace in death and this thought sent chills down my spine.

Suddenly, the ship stopped moving. Oh no, oh no, oh no that's a bad sign, I thought. Why would have Percy and Jason stop the storm? They could not abandon me like that. The boat started moving again and I knew it was bringing me far away from the Penelope. I hope that at least it will bring me closer to Rachel, I thought.