Once Strong, Now Broken

Chapter 31: I'm In Love With A Scary Woman

((Percy POV ))

"What the hell was that?" I kept my distance from Odessa. My instincts were telling me to run, that this was no battle for me to win, but Odessa kept drawing me in. Her face was calm, completely ignoring the distraction behind her. Black burns scorched the grass all around us leading into, a now closed up, pit that lead straight to hell. Marks left by the Minotaur begging for mercy dug crevices into the ground and into the back of my eyelids.

Her face contorts in confusion, "What? You know, the Minotaur. You fought it many tim-"

I cut her off, fear radiating of my back. "No! Don't play dumb with me! What did you do to him?!!" My chest tightens as she returns my question with a small chuckle. If it's not Odessa is giving off this dangerous vibe, then I got affected by the Nightmare-type magic as collateral damage. For the safety of my daughter and me, I'm praying it's the latter. Truthfully, I don't know if that option is any better than the first.

"Dragged him straight to Tartarus. Where he belongs." She shrugs at me and takes a step towards my direction. I hesitantly step backwards and hold Amara close to my chest. My eyes were fixed on Odessa's hands incase she tried to use her powers. Her eyes squinted in confusion, "Why are you so worried? I'm not going to hurt you..?" I try to swallow the knot in my my throat. I fix my gaze to anything but her eyes tearing up.

I roll my shoulders, "Let's.. Let's just go. The hunters were probably alarmed by the commotion." My shoulders start shaking. My wings unfurl, unwillingly showing my anxiety further. Since when did she learn those powers? Was she ever going to tell me and why am I so affected by her? It's not even the worst I've seen, but it was so effortless... like she's done it many times before...

"Sure.." Odessa looked at me up and down, wounded. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, it hurt me more trying to think about it. She rubs her eyes quickly with her sleeves and takes the lead towards the tree line as I situate Amara in my papoose on my back. I whisper a silent prayer to Hestia, or anyone who would care, for protection. I trust Odessa, but something doesn't feel right about her with those powers.

...

Odessa and I treck through the forest, hoping to find another clearing soon. The tension set by our silence was suffocating underneath the crunch of the forest floor. We tried to small talk, but that was only making the situation more tense so we eventually stopped talking completely. Not only was it eerily quiet, but the sun was setting... The night is Artemis' prime time to catch us out in the open. Odessa stops in front of me, almost causing me to run straight into her back. Her arm stretched out to keep me behind her.

"Why is this place familiar?" She whispers quietly. Breeze rakes the leaves behind me as I look over her shoulder. I saw a small clearing with a bolder small enough to sit on in the middle, footprints ran the grass around it dry as if someone had paced there day after day. Dejavú was slapping me with a fish before we heard rustling to the right side of the clearing. We both duck low enough to be hidden, but high enough to see. Our breaths matched, staggered.

A crying figure walked slowly to the boulder and sat down slightly facing away from us, her head tilted towards the sky. She had black shaggy hair and a silver jacket with a thin silver band around her head. Could that be Thalia? I didn't think we were this close to the camp... The air was still as we heard the figure speak through her sobs. The sensation was different than hearing it audibly I can only describe it as a silent prayer. Her lips didn't move,  "I'm sorry, please come home.. both of you. I'm an idiot and the camp misses you. Artemis misses you... I miss you."

Odessa looked at me, You heard that too right? Like, in your head? I only could nod slightly, my eyes glued to the girl who was praying to us. If that was Thalia, then we need to leave this area alone. It didn't click before, but if this is the original clearing that I started my run from Thalia and the hunters, then we are only a mile or so away from the hunters' camp. Odessa and I share a look of, 'let's get out of here? Yeah?' as we carefully crawl backwards.