Gone Girl.¹

𝟬𝟯𝟭. oaths fulfilled

gone girl.
━━━ chapter thirty one

❀

Amaryllis Kalomiri was dead. But the dead can't wake up and yet, she did.

She woke up panicked, as if she was still in the middle of a fight. She didn't know where she was, or if she was actually awake or just dreaming and it all added up to her heart beating a little too fast. She was laying on the ground and there was someone beside her, muttering prayers.

Will raised his head when he realised she woke up and looked at his sister with tears running down his cheeks. "You're okay," he said, as if he didn't fully believe it.

Amaryllis' first instinct is to look at his eyes. They're normal, blue-not gold, like she was expecting. But still, something felt weird. What if this was one of Deena's chaotic illusions? Will couldn't be real; he wasn't there at the throne room with them.

When Will touched her hand, she flinched as if she got burnt. "No," she muttered and tried to get away from him. "No, get away from me. You're not real."

Will looked scared for a moment. He looked like a mess and his Camp t-shirt was full of blood. "Hey, hey. It's okay, you're safe." He spoke so gently, like she was a wild animal.

"You're not real. Don't touch me!" she yelled; something inside her broke and she started crying. "Please. Just- just leave me alone."

"Lilly..."

"Please." Amaryllis looked around her, trying to understand where she was. It was a strange little dark room and the only light came from some candles. "I- I can't do this anymore. I can't," she whispered-she wasn't entirely sure who she was talking to; perhaps the gods. Her father. Anyone who was listening and still cared.

Will pulled back from her and made sure there was some distance between them. That seemed to relieve her a little. "Remember when we convinced Lee that our cabin was haunted by reprogramming his Valentine's Day talking teddy bear into whispering at night?" he asked. "Or... or that karaoke party at the beach. You sang that Ain't no mountain high enough song but you forgot the lyrics half-way through and Nia got up to sing with you? She even dragged Michael. Do you remember?"

She did. She remembered everything and it hurt like hell.

Will sighed. "I'm real and I'm here, Lilly. Kronos, Luke, Deena... they're dead. We won."

Amaryllis drew a sharp breath upon realising that he was telling the truth. But why did she feel so scared if everything had ended? "Where are we?" she asked.

"We're still on Olympus. The gods are currently fixing their ruined throne room." He hesitated and she could see it in his eyes. "As the... head counselor of the Apollo cabin, they told me to look after you until you woke up."

"Head counselor?" Amaryllis asked. "But..."

Will gave her a sad smile and he shook his head. None of them wanted to say it out loud, but that didn't make it less true; Nia was gone too. The Apollo cabin lost two counselors-two siblings-in the span of two days.

"I'm so sorry." Amaryllis didn't know what else to say. "You shouldn't have gone through this alone."

"I wasn't alone. Kayla and Austin... they're okay," Will said and she thanked the gods that at least the two of them were safe. "Anyways, we'll continue this conversation later. There's someone that really wants to talk to you."