A r i a ✯
"Please work, please work," whispers Ava.
I look up from the bow I'm stringing and look at her. The daughter of Iris was hunched over the water fountain next to the Big House. She had just thrown a drachma into it as an offering to her mom.
Studying Ava, I'm not sure what to think. I hadn't seen her in what, four years? It seems like almost yesterday...
She gasps loudly, "Octavian!"
Well, clearly the Iris message worked fine. Standing up from the bench I'd been sitting on, I felt intrigued to see how my little bro was doing on his first quest.
I stop in my tracks as soon as I see him. Octavian was lying on a bed, not looking good. At all.
My eyes drop to look at his side, where a bloody bandage was hugging his body. A concerned Rachel was sitting next to him, her eyes full of sadness.
Octavian opens his eyes slowly, and furrows his eyebrows towards us. He clenches his jaw and manages to lift his head up.
"What the hell do you want, Ava?" he croaks, causing Rachel to snap her head back and spot us.
Poor Ava, the girl was practically trembling. And let me tell you, nothing makes that Aussie tremble. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. I walk up so I stand beside her.
"Octavian..." I gulp, trying not to look at his wound, "What happened?"
He tries to say something, only to cringe in pain. I feel a twang in my heart, we may be half-siblings, but I always thought of him like my full-blooded brother.
Rachel gently helps him rest his head and he appears to fall asleep right away. Dipping a towel in water and wiping the sweat off his forehead, she takes a deep sigh and looks up at us.
"Something went wrong with the engines, we had to go by water," she takes a deep breath and continues, "Then... then Scylla and Charybdis were there, and..." an uncontrolled sob comes out of the Oracle.
I suddenly notice how tight I'm gripping the bow and try to relax. I begin thinking of= options. Octavian doesn't look well, and I can't even begin imagining what would happen if he... if he...
"Kay– I mean, Aria. What do I do?" pleads Rachel.
"Healing isn't my strongest specialty," I say discouraged.
"Look– there's Will!" Ava finally speaks. I spin around and spot Will–who can miss that bright hair?– feeling instant relief. He was the best healer in the camp.
"Will, come here! Hurry!" I shout. As Will comes jogging towards us, I have to hold onto my bow tighter because my hands won't stop shaking.
"What's up?" he asks, then looks at the Iris message. His eyes turn into slits when he notices Octavian is there.
I can practically see the anger coursing through my half-brother; Will, that is. "Why in the gods names is Octavian with Rachel? I thought she was going on her quest alone?" he shouts.
"Long story, but Will he's hurt real bad. You have to help him!" I urge.
"You don't even know the guy! Why would you care?" responds Will, giving me a disgusted look.
I march up to him, now it's me who's angry, "I care because he's my brother," Will steps back, a confused look. He suddenly notices the resemblance, probable of our eyes, and gasps, "So I need you to tell me how the Hades we're going to help him."
Will just stands there, shocked, but walks up to the fountain a few seconds later. He squints at Octavian, ignoring Rachel completely.
"Give him some Nectar." he states neutrally.
"But... but he's mortal!" proclaims Ava, the look of fear on her face probably matching mine.
"You'll kill him." says a low voice behind us. We turn around to see Nico di Angelo.
"Nico, we don't have any other choice." says Will, with what appears to be compassion. Hm... what a surprise, I was sure he had it out for Octavian.
"We all know it's because you're into Rachel, and the last thing you want right now is some other guy ruining it." the kid practically growls. And with that, Nico walks away.
Will sighs, "The choice is yours. He won't make it either way," he follows Nico.
I put my face in my hands. It was hopeless, I was going to lose my brother, just like I lost my mom. What could I do? Risk incinerating my own brother with a hope that he'll recover? Or leave him to die slowly?
Brought back by the sound of Octavian gasping for air, I made a decision that I would have to live with for the rest of my life. Whether it be positive or negative, we'll soon find out.
"Give him the Nectar, Rachel."
R a c h e l ❀
Nectar? Too much will kill a demigod, what will it do to a mortal? Oh that's right, incinerate them. My head matches the pounding in my heart, I don't know what to do.
The door opens and Pip pops her head in. Her usual amused grin is a straight line, even her eyes show worry. She looks uneasily into the room and I nod.
Walking in slowly, she's nervously toying with a necklace I'd never seen before, but can't be bothered to ask about now.
"Who is that?" asks Aria from the Iris Message.
Pip's eyes widen when she notices a wavering rainbow above a vase of flowers.
"This is Pip, she kind of made her way onto the boat." I say, feeling drained.
"Does she, uh... know...?" asks Ava unsure.
I nod and look back at Octavian. Pulling back his matted hair, I notice a scar behind his ear and trace my fingers over it.
"Rachel," says Aria softly, "The nectar?"
I blink back tears knowing there's nothing else we can do except wait for him to just... die.
I walk out into the hallway and go to the supply room, the tears now streaming down my face. As I look for the nectar I start giggling hysterically, realizing that less than a month ago I hateed Octavian's guts and wanted him gone, now I don't know know what I'd do without him.
Eventually I find the nectar, and sobs rack my body. This was crazy, I was crazy. How did I even get into this in the first place?
I take a deep breath and go back to Octavian's room– praying to every god and goddess I can think of. Roman, Greek, heck, even Egyptian or Norse at this point! Anyone who's willing to listen, and sit by his side.
I break off a tiny piece and look at the Iris message, Aria and Ava are staring expectantly.
Here goes nothing.
Gently holding his jaw, I open it so I can see inside his mouth, the sudden thought of kissing his lips appears in my head and I start blushing uncontrollably, hoping no one notices. I crush the nectar in my hand and let some of the crumbs fall into his mouth.
Everyone stares at Octavian to wait and see what happens. If it somehow worked, he won't burst into flames.
Nothing happens for seconds. Then minutes.
I look down to see my knuckles turning white from gripping the sides of the chair so hard, and begin to accept that he may never wake up again.
"I'm sorry, Rachel–" says Aria, her voice shaking.
Getting up, I clench my fists, about to storm out of the room and let my anger out when a loud gasp comes from Octavian.
He blinks his eyes open and locks his ocean blue eyes with my emerald ones.
"Rachel."
–––––
Meanwhile in Greece...
A clumsy man stumbles down the streets of Mykonos, Greece. Passerbys eye him closely but don't say anything.
He wears a suspicious trenchcoat and fancies a long beard with crazy eyes. Every few minutes he looks behind him as though someone were following him.
A homeless bum, think the strangers that pass him. They are quite wrong.
Eventually he reaches a secluded area near the beach and finds his way to the giant jagged rocks.
"Anoíxte to thálamo!" he hisses.
Immediately a swirling pool appears at his feet and swallows him whole. He arrives at what appears to be a secret underground tunnel and summons a small flame in the palm of his hand to light the way.
Walking down the tunnel he hears the familiar sounds of screams. They don't bother him anymore.
Finally, he reaches his destination– the edge of a large hole that can devour him. He knows one stumble will send him down to the pits of hell. Literally.
"Sire?" he whispers loudly, sending echos down the hole.
"Have you brought me the information?" responds a terrifying voice from the hole.
The man gulps and takes out a folded napkin from one of his many pockets, fingers trembling as he does so.
"The Oracle of Delphi shall find the god
that manifested their powers.
And on this journey,
they will discover their final destiny.
But if the god of prophecy cannot be helped;
the Oracle of Delphi will no longer be."
Silence fills the air after the man finishes reciting the prophect, and then comes a stomach-wrenching cackle deep from the pit.
"She will arrive soon. I will have my revenge."
The man nods, then furrows his fuzzy eyebrows. His right eye begins to twitch, a regular occurence now, and he speaks up, "Sire, with all due respect, why her? I am avenging you over a quick incident that happened with a mortal?"
"You will respect me!" shouts the voice, sending the feeling of a thousand knives down the spine of the man.
"Y-y-es, Sire." the man cowers.
"Wait for her to arrive. When she does, kill her."
And with that, the Titan of Time was done speaking.
The man limps towards the exit, and reverses the chant to appear overhead now.
Patting down his trench coat, he starts walking to the other side of the island to await Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Little does he know, he was being watch.