/ᴹᵉˡᵃⁿⁱᵉ ᵍᵉᵗˢ ᵃ ᵖⁱⁿᵏ ᵖᵒᵒᵈˡᵉ/
𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯
"𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎"
People are afraid. And that's normal. Very normal, actually. Fears are not something to be ashamed of, nor are certain problems that are developed because of that fear. Fear holds you back. Sometimes it stops you, but at some point it could save your life. She didn't believe the words the man had drummed into her seven years ago. Of course fear was a façade, but it doesn't make you weak.
Everyone knows this feeling. You start shaking and you feel sick. Sometimes your vision even goes black or you feel like vomiting out of fear. Your pupils dilate and your lip starts to tremble. These are the striking features. Then there are the inconspicuous ones. Your eyes wander everywhere and you startle at every little noise, no matter how brief. Sometimes you feel cold, or warm, or both in alternation. And do you know what one of the most common fears is? It's Nyctophobia. Oh, the fear of the dark. Those affected are extremely afraid of being in the dark. or being alone in the dark. And Melanie was one of the people affected. She had two big fears and they were Nyctophobia and Thalassophobia.
The second one was discovered recently. The fear of deep waters and bodies of water. This fear had first developed since Melanie had these nightmares. The nightmares where she was always drawn into the dark abyss of water. And no matter how hard Melanie tried to overcome her fears, she couldn't. She was too weak for that. Maybe she just needed a helping hand. To do this, Dionysus' daughter would have to open up to others.
♛
They were pretty miserable that night. The four camped out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers. Melanie had picked up food from Aunt Em's shop and distributed it to everyone. Even though the clothes were stuck to her body, no one dared to even start a fire. No matter how damp everyone's clothes were. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. They didn't want to attract anything else. Annabeth suggested taking shifts throughout the night. Melanie thought it was a good idea and wanted to take the first shift. but Percy beat her to it. Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground, Melanie's eyes looked around safely.
Her eyes looked around her. The darkness around her frightened her. Her mind was even more chaotic than usual and the voices in her head were getting louder. The shadows crawled towards them like snakes. They watch them from the shadows of the forest. Melanie sent a shiver down her spine. "Go on," she heard a voice say behind her. Melanie jumped before turning around. Her shoulders relaxed slightly, but not completely. Her whole body was still stiff. She hoped Percy, who was watching her carefully, didn't notice how her hands were shaking slightly. To be on the safe side, she hid them behind her back. Percy noted her fear. It wasn't the shaking hands or her body language. He saw it in her eyes. The violet eyes. The dark abyss in which he always lost himself. He recognized the trembling in them. The golden spots of light that used to glow inside them like fireflies in the deepest darkness were no longer there. Instead all he saw was fear.
Percy sighed. "I'll take the first shift. You can go to sleep." Melanie wanted to speak back, but something stopped her. Her body was telling her to sleep. You understood told her so. The second ancient Greek blood that flowed like a flowing stream through her veins told her to be sensible. Melanie took a deep breath.
Her eyes darted back and forth between the blanket laid out for her and the depths of the forest. Percy remained silent. He waited patiently for her answer. Watched how she would react. Percy knew Melanie wasn't one to give up or let anyone tell her what to do. But he really hoped she would go to sleep. In the dead of night, when he could hardly see anything except her violet eyes, he could still see the exhaustion. The cut on her cheek was sealed with dried blood. Every single one of the blood cells worked to restore the skin and its image as quickly as possible. Percy also recognized the general outline of Melanie's wild curls. They hung over her shoulders and down her back to the middle of her spine, were stained with dirt and blood and stuck out in all directions. Similar to his jet black hair, Melanie's ash blonde curls couldn't be tamed. Unless a few water Naiads were at work with shells and pearls.
Melanie sighed. She had weighed all the pros and cons on an inner gold scale. To her regret, the cons had weighed more and won with a loud squeak. So the answer was clear. "Okay," Melanie murmured, shuffling towards her blanket. She slipped down and closed her eyes. "Goodnight shrimp," she said. Percy had to laugh. Despite her condition, nothing stopped her from starting a fight with him. "Goodnight Grape Princess," he replied. Melanie's mouth twitched slightly before she was dragged into dreamland. Percy waited. Waited until he heard her breathing evenly. And then he made his way to Grover. They both still had a little to talk about.
♛
TW. Mention pain and drowning!
Red. Pain. Red. Screams. Tears. Salt. Red! Pain! Red! Pain!
Red! Red! Red!
Her lungs gave out. Melanie gasped. The tendrils beneath the black surface of the water tightened around her ankles and pulled her down a little further. She could feel the ice-cold water on her legs. She felt it reach her knees and then stop there. It felt like there were thousands of needles sticking into her skin. Melanie clutched her throat. She wanted to scream. Begging for help. But not a single sound came out of her. her vocal cords failed. Like a guitar that hasn't been played for years, they failed and in the end all that came out was a harsh scratching, which had previously been her voice. The air around her grew colder. She started shaking. Every light went out from the abyss of her mind. All of this was no longer a dream. It was reality. The reality that represented how Melanie fell apart. How she drowned.
An evil laugh sounded. Golden eyes glittered down at her, watching with amusement as Melanie tried to gasp for air. "Break, little heroine, break and let the prophecy never come true." Melanie didn't understand his words. She didn't know what he was saying. It was as if his words were far away. Light years away from her. It was like a sweet melody that changed from a violin to a bass every moment. Each side that was plucked from the instrument gave Melanie even less air. Finally she fell again. The ending was like any other dream.
She fought. She failed. She drowned.
Melanie Wyney sunk.
The vines beneath the surface reached for her, pulling her into the darkness. Water filled her lungs. Eyes burned. And yet her body was frozen. He was paralyzed. Not just from the cold, but also from the fear. She tried to reach for the light, which got further and further away from her and became smaller and smaller. Her mind told her to swim. But she couldn't do that.
Dionysus' daughter died. And her hope with her.
TW ends!
♆
In his dreams, Percy stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit. Gray mist creatures churned all around the son of Poseidon, whispering rags of smoke that he somehow knew were the spirits of the dead. They tugged at his clothes, trying to pull him back, but Percy felt compelled to walk forward to the very edge of the chasm. Looking down made him dizzy. The pit yawned so wide and was so completely black, he knew it must be bottomless. Yet Percy had a feeling that something was trying to rise from the abyss, something huge and evil. "The little hero", an amused voice echoed far down in the darkness. "Too weak, too young, but perhaps you will do."
The voice felt ancient—cold and heavy. It wrapped around Percy like sheets of lead. "They have misled you, boy," it said. "Barter with me. I will give you what you want." A shimmering image hovered over the void: Percy's mother Sally Jackson, frozen at the moment she'd dissolved in a shower of gold. Her face was distorted with pain, as if the Minotaur were still squeezing her neck. Her eyes looked directly at him, pleading: Go!
Percy tried to cry out, but his voice wouldn't work. Cold laughter echoed from the chasm. An invisible force pulled him forward. It would drag him into the pit unless he stood firm. "Help me rise, boy."
The voice became hungrier. "Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods! "The spirits of the dead whispered around him,
"And protect the daughter of Fate. Before it is too late. I will get her. And you will help me, or stand in my way."
Percy's body went cold. He didn't know the daughter of fate. But he was worried about her. "No! Wake! " The image of his mother began to fade. The thing in the pit tightened its unseen grip around him. Percy realized it wasn't interested in pulling him in. It was using the Son of Poseidon to pull itself out. "Good", it murmured. "Good. Wake! " the dead whispered.
"Wake!"
♛
Melanie opened her eyes. Sweat trickled down her forehead. The sun had already risen, but not quite in the sky yet. Despite the trees, Melanie could see how the orange and purple tears mixed together. A play of colors like something out of a fairy tale book. Melanie had rarely seen something so beautiful. and even though this happened every morning and every evening, the picture was always different. It was a dream. Each color represented something different. Every day there was sometimes more and sometimes less of it. For Melanie, it was one of the few things that still gave her hope. She knew there will always be a tomorrow.
With a sigh she stood up. She couldn't change her clothes because she no longer had her bag with her. So she wore her blue, open, checked shirt and the black top underneath. Her dark denim shorts and black and white sneakers. Her hair hung wildly over her shoulders.
"Hello Ann," Melanie greeted with a yawn as she found Annabeth robbing Medusa's snack shop. Without looking up, Annabeth tossed her a bag of Sour Cream Ships. "Breakfast," she said. Melanie nodded and opened her bag. the rushing noise and the quiet footsteps were the only things that could be heard as she and Annabeth went outside again. Grover wasn't there and Melanie assumed he was somewhere in the woods, looking for something.
"He's drooling," Annabeth grinned mischievously and disgusted at the same time as her gaze turned to the sleeping but tossing Percy. Melanie followed her gaze and snorted. A familiar pop was heard and Annabeth turned in the direction of her best friend. Just like Melanie, she had no other clothes and still walked around in her bright orange camp t-shirt and shorts with sneakers. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a lot more tamed than Melanie's. Unlike Annabeth, she looked like a fierce lion. Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Do you want?" asked Melanie, now a little more awake than before, and held out a purple Coke can. Laughing, Annabeth accepted the can and popped the lid too. "I have no idea where you got these cans from," Annabeth smiled and took a sip. The drink with the caffeine made her much more awake. Melanie shrugged and took another sip, watching the sky slowly turn blue. "Secret."
"Hey guys!" Grover's voice clearly called, breaking the peaceful silence between the girls. They both looked to their right and noticed Grover arriving with something pink, fluffy in his arms. "Hey Grov," Melanie sighed, her gaze focused on the wool in his arms. "What do you have there?" Annabeth asked. Grover came to a stop in front of them. Completely out of breath, it took him a moment to sit up again. Now both girls had a close look at the pink one in his arms. "Oh," said Melanie. "You've made a friend."
The wool was not only pink, but also had two black big eyes. It was a dog. A poodle. A Pink Poodle to be exact. "Why is it pink?" Annabeth asked. Grover shrugged. "She didn't say. Oh yes, Annabeth, Melanie, that's Gladiola. Gladiola Annabeth and Melanie." The Poodle barked happily. "Hello Gladiola," Annabeth said friendly, even if her expression looked a bit pained. She was probably wondering why she was talking to a pink poodle.
"Hi Gladiola," Melanie also greeted when the three friends and the pink poodle sat down at their camp again. Melanie had emptied her chips and her can and handed them both to Grover, who happily accepted them. While Grover talked to his new friend, Melanie and Annabeth talked about future plans.
For Annabeth, Melanie's opinion was very important. Not just because of half her blood, but also because of her sense of good and bad plans. Strategy. It was just in her blood. After a while, Percy also moved. The attention of all three and that of a pink poodle, who narrowed his eyes dangerously on Percy, was now on him. Melanie held out her hand to Gladiola. He first looked at her askance, then sniffed and jumped from Grover's lap into Melanie's, where he made himself wide and comfortable. "He likes you," Grover said, smiling as he watched Melanie interact with the animal. She scratched his fingers. "Of course, who doesn't?" Melanie grinned back and Grover rolled his eyes playfully.
Percy finally came around for good.
"Well," Annabeth said, "the zombie lives."
Percy was trembling from the dream. He could still feel the grip of the chasm monster around his chest. "How long was I asleep?"
"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." Annabeth tossed him a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips from Aunty Em's snack bar. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he and Melanie found a friend."
Percy's eyes had trouble focusing.
Grover was sitting cross-legged on a blanket. Melanie sat next to him with her legs outstretched with something fuzzy in her lap, a dirty, unnaturally pink stuffed animal. No. It wasn't a stuffed animal. It was a pink poodle.
The poodle yapped suspiciously at Percy. Grover said, "No, he's not."
Percy blinked. "Are you...talking to that thing?"
The poodle growled. Melanie scratched behind his ears and the Poodle calmed down a bit."This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."
"You can talk to animals?"
Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."
Percy stared at Annabeth, figuring she'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on me, but she looked deadly serious. Then he looked at Melanie, who also looked the same. Sometimes Percy thought she and Annabeth were from the same bloodline. Maybe siblings, similar to how they saw each other.
"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," Percy said. "Forget it." Melanie rolled her eyes.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. Melanie said hello. You say hello to the poodle."
The poodle growled.
Percy said hello to the poodle.
Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.
"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked.
"He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."
"Of course," Percy said. "Silly me." Suddenly something metal hit him in the head. A purple can fell into his lap as Percy hissed. He gave Melanie a dirty look. "Drink," she said simply. So she was her old self again, thought Percy. good to know. He picked up the can of Coke, opened it and looked back at the Poodle.
If he didn't know better, he thought the Pink Poodle would grin spitefully at him because Melanie had hit him in the head with a can. The corners of his mouth were turned up angrily and his black eyes were amused. When Percy gave him an evil look and then pointed back to Melanie, the Poodle cheekily spread himself even further on her lap and received a pat from Melanie. Percy and the Poodle didn't break eye contact for a second.
"So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice,
"we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."
Percy thought about his dream—the whispering voices of the dead, the thing in the chasm, and his mother's face, shimmering as it dissolved into gold. And that name. "The daughter of Fate", who was that and where did he find this daughter? All that might be waiting for him in the West."Not another bus," Percy said warily.
"Oh definitely not," Melanie agreed.
"No," Annabeth agreed.
She pointed downhill, toward train tracks Percy hadn't been able to see last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrack station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."
ⲯ﹍︿﹍︿﹍ 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎 ﹍ⲯ﹍ⲯ﹍︿﹍☼
ᴸᵃⁿᵃ ᴰᵉˡ ʳᵉʸ
♆♛♆♛