Aliana jolted awake. She took a deep breath as the familiar nightmare melted away. She looked around her treehouse. Eerie shadows slanted across her room, cast by the moon's silver light. She kicked off her blanket and made for the door. There was no way she would fall asleep again.
The woods were silent except for the quiet chirping of the crickets and the soft glow of the fire flies.
Aliana breathed in the fresh full air, letting the sweet smell of the pines calm her racing mind. She had been trying to find a way to wake up Mason for months now. He showed no sign of improvement and it worried her. She knew that he had totally screwed up last Summer and she was still mad at him, but that didn't mean he deserved to be in a coma for the rest of his life.
Something snapped in the woods off to her right.
She turned and saw a figure dart away. It looked human, but she couldn't see who it was. She rushed after them.
The figure stopped as they neared Thalia's tree - the massive pine that protected the camp.
Aliana ducked behind a tree and watched as the silhouette approached the tree. It looked like they were stabbing it. Not good. She jumped out of hiding. "Hey!"
The figure whirled to see her and ran down the hill away from camp.
Aliana dashed after them, hesitating for a split second before crossing the border out of camp. It was still hard to believe that it would let her back in. She steeled herself and chased the figure through the woods. It wasn't long before she caught up.
Throwing herself on the fleeing form, she tackled them to the ground and pinned them their. "Who are you? What were you doing to the tree?"
They didn't answer. Instead, they brought their feet up under Aliana and kicked her backwards over their head into a tree.
She landed hard on the ground and when she regained her senses, the figure was gone.
* * *
Chiron sat in silence for quite a while. "You're sure it was a half-blood."
Aliana rolled her eyes. "Yes. How many times do I have to say it. A half-blood was walking through the woods in the middle of the night so I followed them and saw them stabbing Thalia's tree or something like that." She recounted for the hundredth time. "When I confronted them, they ran out of camp. I caught up, but they threw me into a tree and ran off." She crossed her arms. "Clearly they hadn't meant to be spotted."
Chiron nodded. "Let's take a walk. I want to see exactly what this mystery camper did to the tree."
They strolled up Half-blood Hill and froze when they reached the tree.
A big gash marred the tree's trunk. Black goop oozed out of the small hole. The needles were yellow and the bark almost looked soggy.
"Poison." Chiron breathed.
Aliana looked at him, she could hear the concern creeping into his voice.
Chiron reached out as if he was going to touch the black sludge, but quickly pulled back. "No." He breathed. "Elder Python Venom. But there's no way, how..."
Aliana cut him off. "What's Elder Python Venom and why is it impossible for it to be here?"
Chiron met her gaze. "This venom has no cure and there's no way it could be here because you can only get it from the depths of Tartarus."
Her eyes widened as she stared with renewed fear at the black ooze dripping down the side of the tree. Someone had poisoned Thalia's tree, there was no cure, and if the tree died, the barrier would fall with it.
* * *
Aliana sat beside Mason's cot. She watched his chest rise and fall. He was still alive, but for how much longer. She touched his cold skin, squeezing his hand. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him. What he'd done was unforgivable, but no one deserved this.
Now that she knew the truth, she could remember little things - his dimpled smile, the way his eyes lit up when he saw her, the glint of his sword as it clashed with hers. She perked up, she had just realized something. His sword was familiar.
She glanced at Mason then dashed out of the infirmary into the woods. She climbed the rope into her treehouse. Uncovering the weathered container, she rummaged through a trunk that had been shoved against the wall and draped with a thick blanket that she only used in the winter.
Finally, she removed a sleek sword that glinted in the sunlight despite being locked in a trunk for years. She examined the masterfully crafted blade. The hilt had an elegant scroll of bronze filigree. A small lightening bolt adorned the base of the blade. A memory flashed back into her mind all at once.
She and Mason were standing in the arena, swords drawn, circling each other like dueling predators. They were much younger. Mason's black hair was cropped short and his freckles were more defined. His eyes seemed to spark playfully.
"Give me your best shot, Sparky." Aliana's voice, pitched higher and less confident, challenged him.
He twirled his sword awkwardly. "Ladies first."
Their swords clashed, the lightening bolt flashing in her eyes.
Aliana gasped as the memory faded. She set the sword down, tipping it against the wall. She stared at the blade and sighed. The two of them had been good friends.
She looked up at the ceiling. "Why, Zeus? Why would you do this to him?"
A/N
I'm baaack! Hello to all my Forgotten Daughter readers. Hope you enjoy part 2
Quick update, I'm currently reading book 4 of the series. I'm so close!
Thank you all for the support!
-Cheshire
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Birthright (Forgotten Daughter part 2)
FanfictionIt's been a year. Mason is still in a coma and his survival is uncertain. While looking for a cure, Ali is roped back into a prophecy that she received last summer. She doesn't know who is haunting her dreams, but she does know how to find out. Th...
