Fireflies [pjo]

CHAPTER VII

Malina Ashwood

Annabeth was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, but Malina knew that it wasn't. In her dreams she had visited the underworld multiple times, and the darkness had always felt different.

This was different. It was a close, heavy darkness, as if she were standing in a cave. Far ahead she saw that Annabeth struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to rums. It reminded her of mount orthrys.

"Thorn!" Malina heard Annabeth cry out. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.

She gasped.

The moment she laid eyes on him she knew who he was. There was Luke. Her Luke. And he was in pain.
He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat. He is isn't the same person he once was, she tried to remind herself.

He changed. He isn't the person she once knew. Malina kept on repeating the same sentence over and over in her head like an mantra, trying to keep herself grounded.

"Annabeth!" he called. "Help me! Please!"
She ran forward. Malina knew that it was a stupid thing to do, but she couldn't really blame the girl. She knew she would have done the same.

Malina tore her gaze away from Luke, forcing herself to look at Annabeth. Annabeth's eyes glinted in the moonlight, reflecting the tears that had collected in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke's face, but at the last second she hesitated.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked Luke her voice cracking. "They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."

Malina wasn't sure what was wrong with him. If she had to guess she'd say that he was forced to hold up the endless darkness above him. But that was impossible.

"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was filled with hurt as far as Malina could tell.
"You shouldn't," Luke said, and again Malina knew how right he was. She had made the mistake before. Trusting him. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."

A small part Malina wanted to tell Annabeth to let him die. She knew Luke had hurt Annabeth more ways than Luke knew. Luke had tried to kill them in cold blood too many times. He broke her trust and tore her heart to pieces. He didn't deserve anything from Annabeth.

Nevertheless a bigger, selfish part of her believed that Luke was savable, that he wasn't completely gone. That he wasnt compleatly gone just yet. However the logical part of her brain screamed at her that she knew that it was to late. She had seen his demise years ago. She had seen the fates carrying his body, Hermes shedding a single tear, and Annabeth collapsing on the ground where the body had been laid mere moments before.

Suddenly the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength.

It looked impossible. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that.

Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed say between laboured breaths.
"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned struggeling to hold up the mass of darkness.
Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily, as if he had just finished a battle.