Equilibrium

Chapter 55: Jackie's POV

For a split second, everything is okay. Staring into Luka's eyes, blue as the sky above, I believe that maybe we'll be able to make it through this. Luka reaches for me, stumbling back as Adrestia flicks a hand at him, but he gets up and tries again. Suddenly, a sick feeling of foreboding washes over me. Luka's fingers stretch towards mine and I scream against the gag, trying to warn him, but then the world stops. Light and sound come crashing down in a wave around me and then I'm falling. I feel weightless, floating in a void of nothingness, and then the weight of the world crashes back down on me as I land heavily in someone's arms. The white fades and then I can see it's Luka holding me, his expression purely shock.
I'm shocked too. I don't know what just happened. One moment the world was out of whack and now I'm in his arms. I reach up to touch his face, to see if this is real, but I can't move my arm.
I can't move my fucking arm.
What. Is. Happening?!
Internally, I start to panic, trying to move any part of my body but it's like I'm frozen in time. Gone is the need to blink, to breathe, to move. I'm just here. Lifeless as a stone carving.
What the HADES DID ADRESTIA DO?!
Am I dead?! I don't think so... Otherwise I'd be in the Underworld...
I stare up at Luka's face, the only thing I can really see right now, since I can't even move my eyes.
His expression goes from one of shock to something I've only ever seen once on him. It's the one he'd had when he'd told me about his mom's death.
Grief.
Gone is his calm manner, his smirk, his annoyed look he saves just for me, his teasing smile, replaced with something broken and jagged and raw. He rips the gag off my mouth and just stares. His eyes well up with tears and he shakes me, saying my name over and over again.
"Jackie? Jackie?!"
I try to respond, to say anything, but my voice is trapped in my chest. No sound escapes my lips.
Around me I hear voices, echoey and distant. Adrestia's pleased cackling with the stunt she's pulling and the gasps and cries of demigods that are out of my line of vision. All I want is to be able to sit up and say HEY GUYS! I'M OKAY! I'M NOT DEAD! But apparently that's not in the cards. Whatever fucking voodoo witch magic Adrestia's working is extremely powerful and now I'm playing into her hands exactly as she intended me to.
Luka's sobbing above me now, muttering out incoherent words and babbling and my heart is shattering.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry we should have never fought. This is all my fault I-" he breaks off as another sob leaves his body and I desperately want to reach up and slap some sense into this boy because it is in no way his fault and I shouldn't have run away in the first place.
Luka clings to me, laying his forehead against my own and crying as he holds me.
"I should've just told you right away. I needed to come clean first but after I was going to tell you I liked you back. We could've been more than friends, and now everything's fucked up," He mumbles through his tears, "The last real conversation we had was an argument. I can't live with that, I can't-" He hiccups, leaning back and cupping my face with his hand, stroking my cheekbone softly. "There's so much I didn't get to tell you. We were soulmates," he whispers the last part, his voice wobbly.
We...
We what?!
Wait what the hell, Luka likes me and we're "soulmates"?! What does that even-
Wait a second. Aphrodite's mirror. Luka must have seen me in the mirror.
Holy shit holy shit holy SHIT.
Luka's lip starts trembling and then he's back to sobbing again, clutching my shirt.
If only I could fucking MOVE. I want nothing more than to wipe the misery off Luka's face. To let him know I'm okay. And maybe to kiss him.
"Jaquelin Elway is dead. You have all caused this, and now you will die too, unless you hand over the relics immediately." Adrestia's voice booms from somewhere nearby and Luka shoots up, eyes blazing with defiance and white hot rage.
"Never."
I hear yelling and the clashing of weapons, metal on metal, and I'm absolutely terrified. Luka can't take on a goddess, he'll get himself killed! Although I'm not sure if that's even happening, all I can see is the sky above me.
The sounds of battle start up again, explosions and screams and the clanging of weaponry. The battle must be back at full force.
Worry pangs in my heart. I should be up there fighting, helping! If something happens to Luka, I'll never forgive myself.
A dark figure blocks my view as someone hunches over me, laying a clammy hand to my forehead. The hand retreats quickly with a shocked gasp as the figure sits up, and I can finally see their face. Nico DiAngelo hovers by my side with an amazed, yet terrified expression.
"You're not dead. Oh my gods, you're not dead!" His eyes meet my own and his expression turns into a determined one. "Luka! LUKA! Get over here, right now! It's Jackie!" I hear the pounding of footsteps and then Luka's at my other side, kneeling across from Nico. If I could, I'd breathe out a sigh of relief at seeing him safe.
"She's dead, Nico. She's not coming back." He snarls, and I notice that he hasn't stopped crying. His mouth is pressed into a firm line, and although he looks absolutely furious, I can tell he's just in pieces.
"No. No. I can sense death. And Jackie is not dead. This is some kind of magic."
Luka looks at him doubtfully, hurt still etched in his eyes, but there's also hope, "You better not be pulling my leg." He snaps, squinting at Nico.
"I would never. Now come on. We need to find the source of the magic. Something is keeping Jackie in this state. We just have to figure out how to reverse it. I'll go snoop around the battlefield. You stay with Jackie in case the source is somewhere near her."
Nico gets up and leaves my line of vision while Luka inspects me. He saws through the purple ropes attached to my ankles, wrists, and neck with a knife and casts them aside. He rakes his gaze over my face and down my body a few times until his eyes catch on my left wrist.
"No way."
What? What's on my- oh.
Oh my gods that bitch!
The silver bracelet Adrestia had made me wear was giving off a strange purple glow. I'd bet a thousand drachma that she'd had this stunt planned all along. That bracelet had done this. She'd tricked me again. Sneaky bastard. When I'm out of this wack coma she is going to pay.
Luka's fingers graze over my arm until they wrap around the bracelet on my wrist. He tries prying it off, but to no avail. Cursing, he whips out the celestial bronze pocket knife he'd been using earlier and slices through it, narrowly avoiding nicking my wrist with the blade in the process. The bracelet emits a series of purple sparks before slipping from my wrist, hitting the grass with a soft clunk.
Then Luka turns to my face, kneeling at my side, and grabs one of my hands, squeezing hard.
"Jack Jack?" He whispers, biting his lip.
I squeeze his hand in my own and blink, giving him the tiniest smile.
Holy Hera I can MOVE!
Luka stares in utter shock, as if frozen himself.
"Miss me?" I smirk and then he laughs, face lighting up with absolutely joy as he leans down and presses his lips to my own.
I can't help but smile as he kisses me, tangling my hands in his hair and pulling him down on top of me. The kiss is messy, but it's full of emotion. I pour everything into it. The anger I'd felt when we'd argued, the hurt when I'd run away, the loneliness at not having him by my side, the fear of being held captive, and the relief I'd felt when I found out he was okay. As Luka presses his body against my own, I know he understands. Everything.
How sorry I am, how much I missed him, and how much this means to me. He pulls away after a timeless moment and smiles down at me, reaching up to brush a tear from my cheek. I didn't even notice that I was crying.
"Of course I missed you. Obviously I missed you."
I sigh happily and beam up at him. "So... You like me, huh? We're 'soulmates'?" I say in a teasing manner, though my heart clenches painfully as the thought of rejection for a second time around enters my head.
"Oh, uh... You heard all that?" Luka's face turns a deep shade of red, but he doesn't look away. I furrow my eyebrows in anticipation, worrying if I took it too far.
"Yeah..."
"And... You don't hate me?"
"WHAT?!" I splutter, "No, I like you, dumbass!"
Luka stares at me for a second, chewing his lip as if he's debating something, but then he gives me a nervous sort of smile.
"Well... In that case, would you want to be my girlfriend? For real this time?" My heart thumps in my chest once, twice, and then I'm beaming, throwing my arms around Luka's neck and pulling him into a bear hug.
"Yes yes yes! Finally!" He laughs, then sits up, pulling me up with him.
He wraps an arm around my shoulder and I lean on him for support, my body throbbing dully.
"Let's go take down Adrestia!" I lift my chin and Luka smiles down at me.
"I'll be with you the whole time, I promise."
Our eyes meet in a blaze of resilience and then we turn to the battlefield, ready to take down one motherfucking goddess.
And there she is, stomping towards us on the battlefield, looking incredibly ticked off at the fact that I'm alive and with Luka.
"Aww, look at the power couple. Too bad it's high time I put an end to all your nonsense."
"I think you'll find it's going to be the other way around," I snarl at the approaching goddess.
"Jaqueline, dear, do you have a death wish? Was having everyone else see you appear as dead not good enough for you? Because I am perfectly capable of making it real this time around."
Luka puts his hand on my shoulder defensively and I glare at Adrestia.
If we go down, we're going down together.