Indigo Eyes

Chapter 105

It took four people to eventually pry Pollux off Cressida and Castor, and as much as Percy and Annabeth tried, they couldn't get Cressida to calm down or let go.

People use the expression that their heart was ripped out too often to take it seriously. And though she couldn't stop her heart from getting ripped out, no one could take her away from her brother even though her brother had been taken away from her.

Pollux was eventually able to pull himself together to push past Percy and Annabeth and kneel down next to his sister. "Cress? Come on. We have to let him go," he whispered as he placed a hand on her back, and she was still crying as she sat up.

And both Percy and Annabeth were reduced to tears at the sight of their friend as she wiped her fingers on an exposed piece of her shirt before she reached out to close Castor's eyes with shaky hands. And she and Pollux gripped onto each other like a lifeline as the Apollo campers carried their brother away on a stretcher.

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There were too many goodbyes, too many shrouds actually covering bodies instead of just being burned. Cressida and Pollux were still in their battle clothes, their armour gone, and their bodies still covered in nicks and scratches, as they stood by their brother's funeral pyre. They hadn't said a word to anybody as they stood there and Pollux covered his twin with a deep purple shroud with golden grapevines, their three initials etched on the top of the silk. Pollux tried to say a few words, but he choked up, unable to get anything out as his little sister stepped forward, trying to wipe away her tears and only smearing the grime on her face. Her voice was utterly raw and broken and she had to stop a few times, but she spoke for her brother.

"Castor was the best of us. His favourite place in camp was the strawberry fields because he hated the smell of grapes," she said, a whisper of a smile on her face as she thought about it and about him. "He is - he was... my big brother. He bandaged my knees when I fell off the obstacle course. He-he held an ice pack on my hands when I got burned on the lava wall. He taught me how to fight. He used to love watching me and Pollux argue. He- he was - was-"

Pollux was right behind her as she hid her face in her hands for a second and Percy's heart broke for her. It absolutely killed him to see her like this and he wasn't able to do anything about it.

Pollux had his arm around her as they both reached for the torch and lit the funeral pyre in the middle of the amphitheatre, and within seconds the row of shrouds was engulfed in fire, sending smoke and sparks up to the stars.

The next day was spent treating the wounded as the satyrs and dryads worked to repair the damage to the woods, but Cressida and Pollux were nowhere to be seen. Percy and Annabeth took turns dropping off plates of food in front of their door, but they still didn't see them.

It was only at noon when the Council of Cloven Elders called an emergency meeting in the sacred grove did they appear. Cressida was in an oversized camp half-blood t-shirt which was obviously Castor's, and a pair of denim shorts. Her hair was in a high ponytail, her grey section standing out as she was tucked under Pollux's arm, both their eyes red and puffy and covered with dark circles.

The three senior satyrs were there, along with Chiron, who was in wheelchair form. His broken horse leg was still mending, so he would be confined to the chair for a few months until the leg was strong enough to take his weight. The grove was filled with satyrs and dryads and naiads up from the water – hundreds of them, anxious to hear what would happen. Juniper, Annabeth, Percy, Cressida and Pollux stood by Grover's side.

Silenus wanted to exile Grover immediately, but Chiron persuaded him to at least hear evidence first, so they had recounted what had happened in the crystal cavern with Pan, Annabeth covering Cressida's part. Then several eyewitnesses from the battle described the weird sound Grover had made, which drove the Titans' army back underground after Cressida had either killed them or driven them mad.