Yay! Percy Jackson fanfic time!! :) Chapter in the Notes/credits and up here Scratch picture is the "cover" That's Venus! :D First~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/811362488/ Previous~https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/851462319/ Next~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/888015689/ Chapter 25 I didn’t want to get up. The darkness was very comforting, and in the real world, things were not. I wasn’t ready to think about Castor, myself, or even if Mac and Colleen were okay. I wasn’t ready to accept the reality, especially if it meant saying goodbye to certain things, and certain people. But even though I wasn’t ready, I crawled out of the darkness. Desperate voices were calling my name, and I knew people needed me. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking several times to adjust to the bright light. The first thing I noticed was how hot it was. Then how sick I still felt, and how dry my throat was. I coughed, painful hacking and dry heaving that shook my entire body. I wanted to cry, but my body was too dry to squeeze anything out. Colleen was leaning over me, her brow scrunched with worry. “Venus?” She whispered. “Colleen?” My voice was scratchy, but Colleen smiled. Tears glinted at the corners of her eyes. “We’ve been so worried!” She said, her voice shaky. My heart warmed for a moment. “We?” “Mac and I,” She explained. My face fell. “Not like that!” She said, “He’s… okay? Well, we don’t know. It’s… it’s bad.” She helped me sit up. Castor was only a few feet away from me. He was pale, and his eyes were closed. His shoulder. I didn’t want to look, but I did. His shoulder was mostly missing, and you could see the bone beneath his skin. It was green around the wound, and blood trickled down. I gagged. “Why isn’t it wrapped up?” I asked, turning away. Colleen cringed. “It’s infected. We didn’t know if that would be smart.” “Well, It’s probably better than keeping it in the open like that.” I pointed out. She nodded, and stood up, grabbing a cloth to wrap around his shoulder. She pulled it tight, and looked away when he winced in his sleep. I couldn’t though. I took in every part of him, trying to make sure nothing else was wrong. He seemed fine except for his shoulder. I stood up, and the blood rushed to my head, making everything fuzzy and dark for a few moments. I swallowed the pain down and continued towards Castor.
I sat down next to him, and placed his head in my lap. I held my breath, trying not to cry. He looked so broken. Like the shadow of Prince Charming. I ran a finger through his hair. “Where’s Mac?” I asked, turning towards Colleen. She shrugged, but I knew she was trying to use the casual motion to hide the fear. “I don’t know exactly. He went looking for help a couple days ago. He- he hasn’t come back since.” “Oh.” I whispered. Fear seeped through. Fear for Castor, Mac, Colleen. I was fine. I mean, I was immortal. But my friends? They could get hurt. They could die. Suddenly, the blaring noise of an ambulance interrupted my thoughts. I jumped up, and instantly regretted it when the dizziness took over again. The Ambulance skidded to a stop, and Mac, grinning, got out of the passenger seat. “I found some help.” He was still grinning. Colleen ran up and gave him a hug. “I was so scared you died!” She yelled, glaring at him. He laughed. “I’m good. Let’s get Castor some help. And Venus, too.” He added, glancing at my swaying body. The driver from the Ambulance hopped out, and a small team of three popped out from the back. “We’re here to help,” He reassured us as he came closer. He turned towards the other three. “Put the boy on the stretcher, I’ll help the girl to the back.” They followed his order immediately, and Castor was now safely in the back. He lifted me up and carried me to the back of the ambulance, seated on the side. Colleen sat next to me, and Mac sat across from us. Castor… he was on a stretcher in the middle of the ambulance. A couple doctor’s were seated with us, to keep an eye on Castor and I. After I hit the seat, I blacked out. No thoughts, no dreams, (thankfully). When I woke it was in a hospital, bright lights boring into my head, giving me a major headache. I tried to sit up, but was gently pushed back by a firm hand. I looked up to see the doctor from earlier. “Let yourself rest, dear. Whatever happened, it took a huge toll. In fact, would you like to explain what happened?” I paused. What should I say? “Umm…”I began, then, I remembered my charmspeak. “It’s nothing you need to know, really.” I tried to convince him he didn’t want to know, and it was nothing serious. His eyes glazed over for a moment. “Of course, nothing worth knowing.” He stood up. “I’ll go check on your friend now.” I jumped up. “Castor? Is he okay?” My voice was panicked. He smiled and nodded. “Well, as okay as one can be with that kind of wound. Looks like a wolf or bear bite, but that wouldn’t make much sense would it? Nothing like that around here.” I took a deep breath. I gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah, weird huh? But you know, nothing to worry about. We’re good now.” His eyes narrowed. “Alright… let’s go see your friend.” I was led to another hallway and to a room on the right. Castor was sitting up in the bed, torn but not broken. “Castor!” My voice was choked. I didn’t take another step, for fear of hurting him. Until… he held out his arms. Then I ran to him, tucking myself into his arms. “You idiot!” I sobbed. “Don’t scare me like that again or I’ll feed you to a kraken.” He coughed out a small laugh and tucked my hair behind my ear. “It’s not like you're in much better shape.” He traced a faint scar down the side of my face. “Yeah, but… you can die. I can’t.” I whispered. “So? It doesn’t make watching you hurt and risk yourself any easier.” He raised his eyebrow in a challenging way. I sighed, and buried my face into his neck. “You’re not being fair.” He laughed. “Yeah. I am.” I opened my mouth again, ready with a retaliation, but he kissed me instead. It was reassuring after his brush with death. “You did that to shut me up didn’t you?” I murmured through the kiss. He didn’t respond. He just went deeper into the kiss. We broke away when the doctor entered the room with Mac and Colleen. I blushed and scurried off of his cot. The doctor cleared his throat. “Well, you’re all ready to go now.” “We are?” I asked, and pointed at Castor. “I don’t think so.” “Except… that’s not what I meant. I’m turning you in.” He held up wanted posters of the four of us. “You can’t hide that easily. The police will be here soon.” I froze. The police? Colleen spoke up. “Sir, I don’t think you understand. We’re not criminals.” “Tell that to the police. You’re not leaving.” He stood in front of the doorway. Mac cracked his knuckles intimidatingly. “Look, we don’t want to hurt you, but we will.” I placed a hand on Mac’s shoulder. “No, we won’t” He lowered his hand. Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed through the hall. Very…odd… footsteps. A group of men now stood in the doorway. They were dressed like police, but something was familiar. Just then the mist around them flickered. Castor cursed in greek. “Not them again…”
