A Twisted Tale

12) I Will Not Bow *Red/Annabeth*

I couldn't believe my eyes, was this really Amber? It couldn't be, I had such a vivid memory of that day. She's dead, or at least she should be. No one could have survived the wounds she had. Unless... She had contracted vampirism and had come back to life.

I mentally slapped myself for my stupidity but I had no time to be focus on past mistakes. I kept my eyes on Amber the whole time I brushed past the screaming guests. The world around me seemed to fade out as if it were only us two on the ship at the moment. The anger and hatred burning inside of me but the confusion and sadness counterbalanced my feelings allowing me to stay neutral faced.

Finally we're standing in front of each other, the smug look on her face sickened me. This wasn't the Amber I once knew, the Amber that I had mourning for all these years. "Red, you sure aren't little anymore" She said noticing we were nearly the same height.

"How could you do this Amber?" Was all I could say as I gestured to the chaos going on around us. "You're letting innocent people be killed, and for what? And how are you alive? I watched you die? I held you in my arms as you took your last breath, could you imagine the guilt I've carried all these years?"

She snickered to herself, "You make it sound like I was responsible for my death."

I frown in disgust, "What happened to you? The real you would never stand for this massacre."

"The old me was weak Red. I died and met someone who showed me who the real enemy is. I've learned the truth behind all of this, and I'm sure when you see it you'll happily join us," she retorts.

"I'd rather die," my voice wavers with emotion and I clench my fists.

She sighs, "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this Red, you were always a difficult child."

Before I could respond she began her assault giving me little time to defend against her blows. I managed to dodge most of them until one of her fists caught my jaw and I stumbled back a bit before regaining my footing. She snickers, "Come on now Red, it's like when we use to spar." Her eyes darken a bit, "Only this time I'm not holding back".

I grit my teeth as she comes at me again only this time when she goes to kick me I grab her foot and flip her. She falls to the ground but knocks my feet out from under me. "Keep up Red, we aren't kids anymore I'd expect you to be better than this," She taunts as she gets to her feet and pulls a short sword from her belt.

My eyes widen as I roll out of the way before she stabs me, instead the sword digs into the boards beside me as I get to my feet. "Hey now this isn't fair," I say as she stalks towards me gripping the sword tight.

"Alls fair in love and war," She grins before coming at me again.

I jump back as she continues to advance swinging her sword in a deadly manner. I step on something uneven and my balance is thrown off, I'm on the ground in a second looking at the object I tripped over. A metal pole was resting at my feet, finally something to defend myself with I think as I quickly grab it.

I look back up as Amber stabs as me again, I roll to the side but her blade catches my shoulder and I hiss in pain before using the pole to push her away. I quickly get to my feet, examining my wound. It is deeper than the others and wouldn't heal as quickly.

I hear a hiss and I return my attention to Amber holding my pole in a defensive position. Her expression drops, "Red you wouldn't hurt me would you?" She questions and I frown, what was she doing.

"Red put the pole down, you're gonna hurt someone, you don't want to hurt me do you?" She questions and suddenly we aren't on the boat anymore.

We're kids again and she's teaching me how to fight, when I would get impatient I would go on a slight rampage, but she would always calm me down before I did any real damage. "Red put the pole down," She said again as she got closer pushing the pole away from her as he got closer to me, "I know you don't want to hurt me".