THE HEART OF GOLD - SNEAK PEAK
Percy
I wasn't aware of anything for a long time.
All I saw was darkness, all I felt was pain, and all I knew was misery.
I remembered my final moments; slicing off Medusa's head, meeting her eyes, the cold feeling as my body hardened into stone.
But if I was dead, why wasn't I in the Underworld. Was there something different about my death that meant I would be stuck in a veil of darkness forever? Was this what Medusa's victims experienced?
Or was it that I wasn't dead at all?
It went on like that for a very long while. Most of the time, I slept.
There wasn't really much for me to do in my stone prison. I couldn't move, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, smell, eat or do anything. So I slept. And for once, I wasn't plagued by dreams.
I could go to sleep and wake up, not sure if it was days, weeks or even years later. Centuries could've passed for all I knew. And I was still sleeping.
Until one day, I saw something.
It was a light.
It wasn't even a particularly bright light. It glowed fiery orange and flickered like a candle. I took a step towards it and stopped in surprise.
I could walk!
When I held them out in front of me, I discovered that I had hands. I took one little step, and another, and another. I hadn't walked for so long; years, perhaps even centuries. The sensation felt alien.
I looked down and found myself in drawstring shorts, a white t-shirt and bare feet. I realized with a start that they were the same clothes I wore when I visited Ogygia. I never found out what happened to Calypso, and the thought filled me with guilt.
Aside from the wavering light, all around me was darkness, which meant I was still encased in my rock prison. I was dreaming.
It was no normal dream, though. I felt something different, something strange, about this dream. I felt a pair of eyes upon me, not necessarily friendly, but not threatening either.
Percy.
My name rang through the air like a church bell. That was my name, wasn't it? But if someone said it, that meant that someone was here. Someone else was in my dream.
This way.
The voice echoed around the space with no way to tell which direction it came from. The only direction that seemed possible was straight ahead, towards the light that wavered in the distance.
I slowly drew towards it, wary of traps. But in my dream, everything seemed to be safe and secure. The darkness filtered in like smoke, obscuring my feet from view.
Hurry.
Each time the voice spoke, it sounded more and more familiar. It sounded like what an angel would; peaceful, gentle, caring. Maybe my guardian angel was waiting for me.
That source of light was finally visible. It was a candle. It stood on a straight silver stand with no intricate designs whatsoever. It was simply plain.
In here.
A door blinked into existence. I was sure it hadn't been there a second ago, if seconds were still a measure of time in this place. The door was plain, like the candle, and made of oak wood. It's silver handle twinkled in the dim light of the flame.
I pushed open the door and was nearly blinded with a rush of white.
I covered my eyes and blinked spots out of my eyes. When they finally focused, I knew for sure that I was dead and had gone to heaven. Except there was no heaven for demigods.
The floor was a pale, light wood the colour of sand. In front of a white leather couch and glass coffee table, a fire crackled cheerily in a hearth made of grey stone, spreading warmth throughout the room and making me feel sleepy. Underneath the coffee table lay a white rug, fluffy like the fur of a dog.
On the other side of the room was a kitchen. A stove glinted silver next to a shiny white fridge with a water cooler build in. White cupboard with silver handles lined the walls in an 'L' shape. Completing the rectangle was a counter with a white marble bench top. It connected the fridge and ran our to the middle of the room in another 'L.'
Around the room, large window frames were completely covered with silky white curtains. Two ghostly white doorways lead off to more rooms. In between the doors hung a beautiful rectangular mirror, its silver border swirling with intricate designs. But that wasn't what I was focused on.
In front of the beautiful mirror stood my even more beautiful guardian angel.
She wore simple faded jeans and a white t-shirt like mine. Her feet were bare and her soft blonde hair was casually put up in a messy ponytail at the base of her neck. Her gorgeously grey stormy eyes were as mesmerising as ever. Around her shone a ghostly white aura of power. When she smiled at me, everything I'd felt since my final moments seemed to melt away, replaced with a sense of hope.
'Percy.'
Her voice no longer rang through my head without direction or reason. The sheer genuineness of her voice swept me off my feet and took my breath away. Without another seconds thought, I ran straight into her waiting arms and hugged her tight. Her hair smelt like a bizarre combination of cinnamon and strawberries.
'Oh gods,' I murmured, speaking for the first time. 'I never thought I'd see you again.'
Annabeth laughed, 'Why would you think? Of course you would see me again!'
I pulled back suddenly and stared at her beautiful, smiling face, 'How are you here?'
The smile dropped and her eyes took on a far away look. The hope she'd inspired when I first walked in was replaced with a sense of loneliness. And, just for a second, Annabeth flickered like the candle.
'I'm not really here,' she said sadly. 'I'm just a manifestation of your thoughts, your desires.'
I blinked, 'English, please.'
She rolled here eyes, just like Annabeth would. The pain in my heart was too much to bear.
'I'm the part of her that never left,' she explained. 'The memory of Annabeth that never faded. You remembered, and that was enough for me to come here.'
'So, you're pretty much how I remember Annabeth?'
'Yes,' she smiled. 'Whatever you remember or her, is me.'
'Do you know what happened after I ... died?' I asked grimly.
She lowered her head, 'I am a part of her just as I am a part of you. I know what happened and what is happening now. But you may not like what that is.'
I grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes, 'Tell me, please. If you're really Annabeth, and if you're really a part of me, than you'll know how important this is.'
Annabeth sighed, 'There is a formula that they hope to find; an elixir that can reverse the time stream and return you to normal.'
'Chaos told me about it. He always said it was too unpredictable, and too dangerous,' I moistened my lips. 'What exactly is happening out there?'
She frowned, 'Most of it is ... hard to see. They are searching for the formula. It is spilt into seven pieces across the Universe. But the problem is, once they find the first piece or the formula, they have only a number of days to find the second piece, then the third, and so on. Once they find the next piece, the clock begins to tick again.'
'And what happens if they don't get the pieces together fast enough?'
'Everyone who has touched the formula, they die.'
I gaped at her, 'Die! Do they know this?'
Annabeth shook her head, 'No. I am a manifestation, remember? A figment of your memory. I know bits and pieces but I have no contact with the outside world. So we have no way of telling them.'
'Chaos might know,' he muttered. 'But knowing him, he'll probably keep it to quiet for reasons known only to himself.'
'Or he might not know,' Annabeth pointed out. 'Point being, he's very smart-he is the one who realized you weren't dead yet and could be saved-but he doesn't know everything.'
'Hang on, I'm not dead?'
She shook her head and a curl of hair came loose from her ponytail, falling into her face. She blew it out of her eyes in that cute way I always found endearing.
'You're not dead,' she confirmed. 'Yet. If something happens to the golden statue you've become, you will be destroyed with it. Your soul trapped here for eternity. You will never be able to return to the Underworld, even in death.'
'Being trapped here doesn't seem so bad,' I said, looking around the blindingly bright room. 'Quite a colour scheme, though. I could be happy staying.'
'You don't understand,' she said slowly.
My eyes narrowed. Not in anger, fear or suspicion, but in curiosity. 'Enlighten me.'
'You will be trapped inside your own mind, shattered beyond recognition. This manifestation of comfort will be lost. What you endured for the past five thousand years will become your reality forever more. You will be twisted, in pain; you body obliterated and broken, scattered in pieces across the universe. And you will be unable to escape it all.'
I gulped, 'That's a little less happy.'
She sighed and rested her hand against my face. I leant into her soft touch, her skin smooth and cold like snow.
'You better hope your friends succeed in creating the elixir,' she murmured softly. 'So they can bring you back to me, the real me. I am nothing but a simple thought, conjured by longing and love. All we can do here is wait.'
'How can you be a thought?' I whispered. 'You feel so real.'
She chuckled, a low ringing sound that made me smile, 'I am real. I am Annabeth. I am the part of her that never left you; the part of her that you remembered all through your time with Chaos. You never forgot me, and you never stopped loving me.'
I took her words in with an open heart. I never knew it, but she was right. I had always loved Annabeth, and I had never stopped. I forgave her long ago.
'It was your anger that blinded you to the truth,' she said as if she'd read my thoughts. 'Now, when you have no anger left, all is clear to you. And it will keep becoming clearer the longer you spend here with me.'
'So, if I'm released-'
'When,' she corrected with a smile. 'Think positive. When you are released.'
'Right,' I swallowed. 'So when I'm released, what will happen to me? What will happen to you?'
'You will return to your body,' Annabeth said. 'You will live your life. As for me, like I said, I am both a part of you and her. Now that you have accept what you've always known, the part of Annabeth's spirit, my spirit, that resides in you will return to her. She will remember all that has happened here in your mind, all that I have said to you, and all you have said to her, to me.'
'You really are her?' I asked. I thought she'd made it clear, but I wanted to be absolutely sure.
'Completely and 100%,' she whispered, pressing her hand against my face once more.
'And you say she'll remember this when I wake up?'
Annabeth nodded, 'It will be as if she is here standing with you now. In a way, she is.'
I smiled and leant down to touch my lips to hers. The soft contact was enough to send shivers down my spine. Annabeth brought her hands up to encircle my neck. I felt a spark run throughout my body like a shower in ice cold water. My senses opened up and I felt more alive.
As we pulled back, the scent of jasmine was wafted through the room, a smell I was sure hadn't been there before.
'I didn't know,' I said, 'but I've wanted to do that for a very long time. Ten thousand years, in fact.'
Annabeth grinned, 'And she will remember that.'
I looked around the room, 'So this is my prison, huh?'
She walked to the couch and stood before the roaring fire, the orange flames bathing her in a ghostly light, making her seem surreal and even more mesmerising.
'I suppose, for now,' she looked at me funny. 'What are you thinking?'
I moved towards her and grabbed her hands. I stood there, my face inches from hers. The temptation to kiss her again was almost overwhelming.
'I'm thinking,' I said slowly, 'that even if I'm stuck here, I'm stuck here with my guardian angel.'
And there you go. The preview to the Heart of Gold. This is a bit of an insight to what Percy will be up to inside his golden prison. And now you know what the other Chaos warriors will be up to; hunting down this mysterious formula. I wonder what will happen ... *strange chuckle* Even I don't know!
Okay, so I hope you enjoyed the preview. Please remember to vote, comment and follow. Not necessarily in that order. Thank you very much! :)
~MissMythoMagic