Avery’s POV
Eventually, everyone breaks. They can’t handle everything that’s put on them and they collapse. Sometimes it takes people longer but others shatter instantly. I was one that tried to stay strong but eventually I fell, I finally met my match; I finally broke. Everyone has their tipping point and that day was mine.
Holding in too much emotion can have major effects on people, messing up their mood, making them paranoid, touchy, on edge, lots of things. For me, it was my mood. I tried to put up a mask to hide myself from everyone, but when Luke followed me into the forest that day, I broke. I couldn’t keep up my mask anymore.
When I first put on my mask, I thought that it would protect me. I thought that not sharing my emotions and to store them away as if they didn’t exist would help me but it only ended up hurting me. I made Luke worry for me. He was scared for me because how I had acted wasn’t like me at all, and I started to realize that.
Now that Luke had talked to me, I felt better. I was slowly being repaired and fixing myself so that I was back to normal, I still had strong emotions, but Luke would come over at night and we would talk about them, making me feel much better.
Luna and Grey had known that something was wrong but they didn’t want to pry, thinking it would eventually leave, as it did though not naturally.
After a few weeks, I was back to normal, I was myself again and I had finally learned how to control my emotions and my powers.
“Bye Luke,” I whispered, hugging him before he left from my cabin.
He smirked, “What? Do I not get a goodnight kiss?”
I rolled my eyes but gladly gave it to him. My lips pressed against his gently, meaning for it to be a light kiss but when I went to pull away, Luke’s hand shot up, holding my head, his other hand wrapping around my waist. My hands, trailing up his shirt to his neck, tangling them into his hair. He groaned when I tugged slightly hen took my hands, taking them off of him and pulling away. We were both breathing hard and I was confused on why he had pulled away, it had been a long time since we had kissed like that, and I missed it.
“S-sorry,” He apologized, breathing hard. “I don’t- want to go- go too far.” His breathing was scattered, his chest heaving and his heart beating to the same rhythm as my own. A small smirk traced Luke’s lips, “However much I want to.”
“Luke!” I scolded him, hitting him lightly while he chuckled.
He smiled down at me, an adoring look in his eyes. I smiled up at him, my heart swelling, “Goodnight.” He said softly.
“Night.” I whispered back, kissing him quickly before he left causing a small smile on his face, loving that I had to sneak one more kiss in.
Once the door closed, a dreamy sigh escaped my lips. I turned around and walked to my room before spinning and flopping onto the bed, my hands resting over my stomach while I stared at the ceiling, the realistic stars twinkling down at me.
Tonight was perfect, Luke and I were becoming even closer and my feelings for him only grew. He was so sweet to me, though I noticed that he got jealous easily. Just the other day, Stewart and I went down to the forges because he told me he wanted to engrave my name on my bow and Luke flipped. It was cute that he was protective, but I immediately told him that Stewart was like a brother to me. Eventually, he calmed down but kept his hand tightly around my waist, to show everyone that I was his.
“Nothing could ruin tonight.” I said aloud, my voice hardly audible, but oh how wrong I was. If only I would have known that closing my eyes that night, would change my life forever.
~Dream~
My heart beat quickly in my chest as I looked around the darkness. I started to panic when I realized that I couldn’t see anything. This had never happened before, my eyes had always been able to see through the dark, even pitch blackness, but here I could hardly see in front of me. I suddenly felt very claustrophobic and I started to hyperventilate.
“Averill…” A voice cooed my name, causing my muscles to tense upon hearing my real name.
“Who’s there?” I called in the darkness, fear clearly in my voice. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes at how frustrated I was with not being able to see through the blackness. I felt so vulnerable and I hated it.
“Averill…” The voice called again.
I spun around, my braid snapping behind me as I tried to find what direction the sound came from, and the source of it, but it only made things worse as the voice seemed to be coming from all directions. “H-how do you know my name?” I yelled, cursing myself for letting my voice faulted.
“Oh I know more about you then you know about yourself,” The voice chuckled darkly, causing shivers to come down my spine. “I know of your mother, how she abandoned you; both now and when you were merely a small child. I know your resentment towards her, child. The hate in your heart burns brightly in your chest. You feel bitter towards not only your mother…. but the rest of the Gods as well.”
My breath was sucked from my throat. How did this person know so much about me?
The voice only continued, shocking me even more as some of these things I hadn’t admitted to anyone. “Yet, you still want your mother’s approve.” He said, “You still want her to be your mother, show you what a mother- what a family- is like. That’s what you’ve wanted your whole life isn’t it, Averill; a family.”
“I have a family.” I stated firmly, trying to believe the words myself. I knew people loved me, but were they really my family? I would never now because all my life hadn’t even seen glances of what a true family was. “I’ve survived pretty well on my own; with Grey. We’re a family.”
A scoff could be heard, making me turn again, an eerie feeling haunting me. “The ghost? She’s who you consider family?” They mocked, “Has she even told you who she really is? She didn’t even tell you about who she was, let along yourself, child. How could she possibly be a family? Families trust each other, tell each other things, not keep secrets, however you wouldn’t know.”
Tears shimmered in my eyes, my chest feeling tight but I blinked my feelings away, telling myself not for this man to get to me. He was evil, or at least he sounded like it. “What do you want from me?”
“I simply want the best for you.” The voice stated, confusing me.
“For me?” I repeated.
“Unlike the Gods,” The voice hissed angrily then soothed his voice, “I can give you a family. I can give you what you desire. All you have to do is trust me, agree to help me so that I may help you. Once you accept, you can accomplish wonders.”
“Me?” I scoffed, “I think you have the wrong person.”
“You’re more powerful than you know, Averill. With my help, you can show the Gods just how they should treat their children, you can be a hero to every demigod that has felt kicked to the dirt.”
“Who are you?” I asked, rather than giving an answer.
At first there was nothing but then a small light appeared to the right of me. My head turned sharply to see it and, looking closer at it, I found that it wasn’t exactly a light at all, but rather it looked like someone was clearing the fog of darkness slightly. It was still pitch black but there was a path that wasn’t as dark as the rest. Warily, I followed the path until I almost fell into a huge pit, gaining my balance at the last second. My eyes widened staring down at the hole. If I thought the air around me was dark and evil, the pit was even worse. The hair on my arms, stood up straight and I instinctively took a step back. Whatever was in that pit, was beyond evil and I didn’t want anything to do with it.
“Call me a friend.” The voice answered, my eyes widening even more as I realized the voice was coming from the pit.
I took another step back, my heart beating faster in my chest. “W-what do you want with me?” I asked, not being able to hide the terror in my voice.
“Not to harm you, I assure you. I want your help to tear the Gods down,” The voice said determinedly, “To bring them to their rightful place- their knees. To show them all the pain and suffering that all of us have felt.”
The dark voice must have realized that I didn’t fully understand because he continued to speak. “I want to overthrow them, Averill. Bring the world into a new age! You can be on top of it! You can be a ruler, have the Gods finally respect you, have your mother love you! Artemis could finally see you for who you are and be proud of you! She would approve of you Averill, to see all that you would have accomplished. You could be with those you loved, you could be happy.” He stressed the last word, making it sound like water to me and I was in a desert. His words made me hungry, longing, they sounded so refreshing, so easy, so nice, something that I never felt like I truly was- I never truly felt happy.
Saying that the offer didn’t sound appealing would be a lie. The Gods needed to be put to justice, they needed to be shown all the harm they did, and then they could fix their ways. I wanted to take his offer so desperately, I wanted my mother to love me- more than anything! I wanted her approval, I wanted her to look down at me with pride and say ‘that’s my daughter.’ I wanted to feel wanted, something that I had only felt by Luke, Grey and Luna. But there was something wrong- in my heart, something didn’t feel right.
“I can’t.” I finally said softly then repeated myself, my voice stronger, louder; clearer. “I can’t take your deal.” I stated firmly.
Anger seemed to flow from the pit. “You’re making a mistake.” It growled.
My confidence waved as I started to take another step back, intimidated by the voice. “I can’t take your deal. I-It doesn’t feel right.”
The voice scoffed, “Are you saying that you don’t want any of that?”
“Of course I do, but-but I can’t”
“You will regret this decision,” The voice stated, his voice clearly upset. “You will come to my side eventually. You don’t know what you’re capable of Averill. You are so much greater than this, staying in this pathetic camp. Do you realize how gifted you are, what you could do with your talents? You could become greater than all the Gods! You don’t understand what you’re throwing away.”
“I-I-”
“Don’t you want power?”
“No.” I answered automatically. Power wasn’t something that I wanted. What I wanted was to be accepted, to be loved.
“You don’t?” The voice asked, surprise clearly laced in his voice, as if completely shocked that she didn’t want power.
“I don’t.” She stated again, “Now please, leave me alone.”
“You won’t be left alone,” The voice sneered, the once human surprise in his voice gone. “You will regret this, you will come back to me in the end. You need me.”
The ground started to shake, and I stumbled, nearly falling forward into the pit but managed to shift my weight so I landed on my butt. “Stop.” I pleaded, fearfully, knowing the shaking was somehow coming from this mysterious voice. “Please stop.”
“You will come back for me,” The voice hissed, “I will force you to join me.”
Before I could respond, the rumbling got worse, a small yelp escaping my mouth as I felt something pulling onto my legs, roughly. I kicked and struggled against the person but it was no use. I screamed, knowing exactly where I was going. “Who are you!” I screamed again, tears finally spilling down my cheeks as I clawed at the floor, my hands bleeding.
“Kronos.” The voice whispered darkly before a loud evil laugh erupted from the pit, as I was pulled off the edge and fell.
*End of Dream*
A scream ripped from my lips, my body snapping into an upright position, and my heart beating faster than a train. Sweat was on my skin and my mind was reeling. My eyes looked around widely, searching the room for the voice, for the attacker. I was so scared that I couldn’t even be happy when I realized my eyes were back to normal and I could see everything perfectly again. Tears were still running down my face, my breathing rapid but in small takes.
That horrible, awful voice still echoed in my head, that eerie laughing. Goosebumps were on my skin and I felt cold, the sweat sticking to my skin.
My head turned to the window, seeing that it was light outside and that it was rather early. Usually, I would be upset to see the light, but I had never been happier. Light and I had never exactly seen eye to eye but today, seeing it made me feel relief which it never did, only the dark did that for me. The dark was never something that I was afraid of, but in that dream, it was completely different.
Once my heart beat had slowed down, my mind let one coherent thought into my head,
I need to tell Luke.