Y/n Pov:
I gained consciousness when my face was filled with an icy breeze. I looked around and realized I was flying. Well, being carried away. I was flying over San Francisco. I looked to my left, where Annabeth was watching the roads under us, with fear in her eyes.
Suddenly, we were dropped.
We were on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic, and I couldn't see the sky above—just close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave.
Annabeth and I struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted an immense building to rums.
"Thorn!" I cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring us here?" We scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.
Then, Annabeth gasped. I looked over to where she was looking, and I gasped too.
There was Luke. And he was in pain while holding up the sky.
He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat.
"Annabeth! Y/n!" he called. "Help me! Please!"
Annabeth ran forward.
"Annabeth!" I screamed, running after her.
Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke's face, but at the last second, she hesitated.
"What happened?" she asked.
"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."
The sky's weight was too much for him, and he seemed to arch lower by the second.
"Why should I trust you?" I asked.
"You shouldn't," Luke said. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."
Then the sky above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke, just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that.
Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed.
"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned.
I ran to her aid, pushing her out to hold it myself. For a moment, Annabeth and I bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing I'd ever felt as if I were being crushed under a thousand trucks. I wanted to blackout from the pain, but I breathed deeply.
I can do this.
"We're doing this together," she said.
"Ah, no no no no no!" I exclaimed. "Annabeth Chase, you let me hold this alone or else you'll get crushed!"
Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily.
"I knew I could count on you two." He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth and me.
"HELP US!" Annabeth pleaded.
"Oh, don't worry," Luke said. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."
I hit Annabeth with my hip, and she rolled next to me.
Afterwards, I tried many times to explain what it felt like. I couldn't.
Every muscle in my body turned to fire. My bones felt like they were melting. I wanted to scream, but I didn't have the strength to open my mouth. I began to sink, lower and lower to the ground, the sky's weight crushing me.
The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing me against the ground.
Luke snapped his fingers and chains formed around Annabeth's hands and legs. She breathed unsteadily and I looked at her worryingly.
"I'm okay," she managed to breathe out. "Thank you."
I concentrated on breathing. If I could just keep the sky aloft a few more seconds. My vision turned fuzzy. Everything was tinged with red. I tried thinking about all the nice things that had happened to me during the year. Receiving the 'Happy Birthday' cards from my cousins (Kyle had added a cheesy pickup rhyme), going ice skating with Grayson and his family (his father, Jacques Martin, his step-mother, Cleo Bouffard, and his step-brother, Phillippe Martin-Bouffard), and meeting Thalia again after years.
Holding up the sky made me sore. After about an hour I was so sore, it felt normal. I was used to emotional pressure and keeping my emotions in, so this felt normal. So normal, I fell asleep.
In my dream, I was in a tent. The inside of the tent was bigger and the tent was crowded with Hunters. They were surrounding two people. Sorry, three people.
One of them was Artemis, my mother, who was kneeling proudly. Another one was my other mother, Elizabeth, who was smiling brightly at something small she was holding.
Then I saw what she was holding, and my heart ached.
It was a baby. The baby had big y/e/c eyes and a small button nose. It had a grey winter baby jumpsuit and its mouth was agape.
"Everything looks alright, Liz," spoke Phoebe. "Now can we please hold her?"
The Hunters all murmured in unison. My mother looked at Artemis. Artemis nodded.
"Sure," spoke my mother.
The baby was tossed around carefully around all the Hunters. Phoebe, Sarah, Mia, Helena and Aubrey fought over who got it first and when it reached Zoë, the baby emitted a small laugh. The Hunters cooed.
"Hi, Y/n," said Zoë. "I'm Zoë Nightshade, lieutenant of Artemis. I shall take good care of you."
Baby me laughed again and the Hunters cooed once more before my view shifted.
I was still in the same tent, but it was night. Mother was asleep with me in her arms. Surprisingly, I wasn't crying. Artemis slept on the other side of the tent with Kerynitian, her doe.
Suddenly, a pink glowing ball appeared in the middle of the room. Doves came from outside and a piece of soft music started playing. Artemis woke up with a start and baby me started crying, which woke up my mother. Artemis drew her bow and my mother held onto baby me protectively.
The pink glow grew bigger and bigger until it became the shape of a woman. The glow faded and the woman stepped out.
She was beautiful. She looked exactly how I thought a beautiful woman would look. The same eyes, mouth shape, skin colour, body shape, everything. It made me feel self-conscious about the way that I looked because I felt as if she was royalty.
"Aphrodite," snarled Artemis.
"Artemis!" greeted Aphrodite.
Her arms were extended as if she waited for a hug. Artemis didn't obey, she just gripped her bow tighter. Mother held baby me incredibly tight, making baby me let out a small yelp. Aphrodite turned around.
She gasped. "Oh, my gods! Is that your daughter?"
"How did you know she's my daughter?" questioned Artemis.
"Hermes," spoke Aphrodite, still in a daze due to seeing me. "Well, Apollo actually. He wanted Hermes to deliver this little cutie a present. They were discussing it in 'private'."
Artemis rolled her eyes. Aphrodite huddled closer to my mother, wanting to hold me.
"Do not dare touch my daughter," spat Artemis. "You will get all that love nonsense on her."
Aphrodite turned around confused. "I beg your pardon?"
"She will not fall in love," explained Artemis. "She shall stay with me, and join the hunt once she is of age."
"So you just generated a clone of yourself?" screeched Aphrodite.
"I wouldn't call it a clone."
"Well, I would. What do you think you're doing, teaching young women how to be virgins? That will be the reason why our population does not increase as much! You had a chance with this small girl and you ruined it!"
The scent of roses was increasing.
"Do not talk to her that way!" intervened mother.
"Ha!" said Aphrodite. "See! Even you fell in love!"
"And I will teach my daughter not to do so," spoke Artemis calmly. "Isn't that the whole point of parenting? Teaching your kids to not do the same mistakes as you did?"
"Mistake?" mother said, choking back a sob.
Artemis made signals to her explaining it was all just to prove a point and to make Aphrodite leave.
"You are ruining this girl's life!" screamed Aphrodite.
"I am not!" defended Artemis.
"Yes, you are! And now, I shall ruin yours!"
Aphrodite created a pink glow and she threw it at baby me. Mother screamed and Artemis shouted trying to stop Aphrodite.
Aphrodite didn't listen. She just kept on throwing the pink glow at baby me. A small throbbing in my head caused me to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth. Once she was satisfied, Aphrodite stopped and admired her work.
Baby me was different. She looked the same but had a different sort of aura around her. An attractive aura.
Aphrodite smirked and turned pink, much like she had before when she arrived. And just how she came, she left.
And I woke up.