The Curse Of Artemis (Percy Jackson Fanfiction) [COMPLETED]

( t w e n t y - t h r e e )

( t w e n t y - t h r e e )

I slept for many hours the next night. My dreams made no sense to me.

I was sprinting, crashing through the woods as many people that I couldn't quite see pursued me. Artemis appeared at irregular intervals to remind me that the present should be my only concern. Above me, pegasi circled like hawks over a corpse. I realised one of the pegasi was plummetting to the ground, out of control, with a fair-haired girl slumped over its neck. The pair dropped to the ground, motionless, a few feet away, and I knelt next to them with a sense of dread.

The pegasus' body was broken and twisted, pinning down the girl. But she was broken and lifeless too; eyes empty, hair singed, limbs facing the wrong directions.

Suddenly her morbid-looking body came to life. Her backwards arms reached for my throat, her torso jerked off the ground until she clamped her hands around my neck.

The worst part was that Dana's eyes were still empty.

She spoke as she choked me, but it was in Leo's voice. "You killed me, Adara."

I woke up screaming my head off. My heart felt like it was thudding out of my chest, and I couldn't catch my breath. I buried my face in my hands and realised that tears were streaming down my face.

Leo. I just needed Leo, but I would never get to see him again.

Thanks to that son of Poseidon, my Leo was gone forever. Dead.

It was only right that the demigod responsible died too.

After I came to that realization, my head reeled. Some faint part of me wailed brother, but, gods damn me, I didn't care. Couldn't bring myself to care that he was family. Blood didn't matter. Revenge didn't know family.

I had nothing left anymore. Nothing. So why should he?

The present should be your only concern.

He had to pay.

Your only concern.

And if he paid with his life, then so be it.

***

Hisfaulthisfaulthisfault. The mantra played over and over in my head as I readied myself. My mind was occupied with my chant as my hands went through the motions of preparing myself for battle - checking each of my twelve arrows, sharpening my sword with a makeshift wetting stone, securing my bow around my torso.

His fault.

As I stalked through the trees, the woods seemed to fault silent around me. The animals disappeared, the birds stopped chirping. Even the buzz of insects fell silent. I was left with the two-word song of 'his fault' in my head, and the sound of grass and twigs crumpling under my feet.

I made short work of the walk to Halfblood Hill, my body on autopilot.

But I paused at the base of the tall, grassy Hill, eyes set on the pine at the top.

Finally, with a purposeful stride, I started up the hill, skirting past the long purple dragon, wrapped around the tree trunk, with ease. There, I paused to finally pull Arch from my pocket and uncap it. The bronze gleamed in the sunlight, edges deadly sharp, if lacking in prettiness from my makeshift whetting stone.

Finally I took the time to survey the camp spread out before me. Campers roamed from building to building with an element of ease and comfort I envied. They belonged here.

I stopped my thoughts there. I can think about that later.

With that, I started down the hill to kill my brother.