Demigod Lily

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lily lunged towards Aaron and Jessica, grabbing their outstretched hands and pulling back. But Ashley had reached a shadow, and disappeared with her sister and boyfriend. Lily felt like sitting down and crying, but she started putting out fires. Ashley had started a fire in all the cabins. Like a robot, she put out all the fires. Then she went to her cabin and laid down on her bunk, crying her eyes out. But she had a weird dream.
Lily opened her eyes to see herself by Zeus's Fist. Ashley was sitting on one of the lower rocks. Lily instinctively grabbed her sword, pointing it at Ashley.
"Oh, let's not be rude now, should we?" Ashley clucked. She threw her wrist back, disarming Lily.
"What do you want?" Lily growled at her. Ashley slowly came forward.
"A truce. I'm tired of trying to kill you. If you'll let me do a teensy spell on you, it'll bring peace between the two of us," she said simply. Lily shook her head.
"I don't trust you. You'll do a spell to kill me," she growled. Ashley rolled her eyes.
"I swear on the River Styx that this spell will not hurt or kill you," she said. Thunder boomed. "Now will you let me do a spell on you? For peace?" She asked. Lily thought about it. She wanted peace, and Ashley had sworn in the Styx that it wouldn't hurt or kill her. She shrugged.
"I guess..." She said slowly. Ashley grinned.
"Perfect. Now, stand right there. It'll be over before you know it," she said. Ashley started chanting some words that Lily didn't know in Greek. Lily's vision went blurry and tunneled, and her knees buckled. She collapsed on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. Ashley shouted the last word and smiled down at Lily. Just before Lily's vision went completely black, Ashley leaned down next to her.
"Thanks for participating," she said wickedly. Then Lily's eyes closed, leaving her in darkness.

Aaron's POV
I slowly opened my eyes and blinked a couple of times, slowly gaining my bearings. I was about to get up when I realized I was tied to a tree with someone else. I looked at the person again, and realized it was Jessica. She was still knocked out. I scooted over towards her, shaking the ropes so they'd wake her up. She groaned, opening her eyes.
"Jessica!" I whispered. She looked over at me.
"Aaron? Where are we?" She whispered. I shook my head. They were in a small clearing tied to a tree. I heard mean laughter from behind a tree, then Ashley came out from behind another tree.
"Oh, for now you're just prisoners. But sit tight, I'm going to go get Lily so she can join the party," she said, and walked off. I sighed.
"Well, maybe Lily can take her down and come get us," Jessica said hopefully. I nodded.
"She's smart, she can always find a loophole," I replied. Then I heard Lily's beautiful laughter, and she came through the tree line. Her eyes were a little glazed over and unfocused.
"Lily!" Jessica and I cried out at the same time. A blue fog covered Lily, hiding her from view. When she re-emerged, Ashley laughed.
"Ah. Now we shall see how my new little... Pet works," Ashley said. Lily just nodded, looking dazed.
"Kill her," Ashley said, waving her hand at Jessica. Lily nodded, much to my horror. Lily grabbed the sword off her necklace and started walking towards Jessica, who's eyes filled with panic.
"Lily, it's me! It's your sister," she pleaded. Lily shook her head.
"I have to kill you," she replied, emotionless. Ashley laughed behind her. Lily stepped closer, her sword level with Jessica's throat.
"Lily, don't kill her. She's your sister," I said. Lily hesitated slightly, which was all I needed.
"Kill her, Lily. You hate Jessica," Ashley growled. Lily nodded again, pushing her sword point into Jessica's throat.
"I hate you, and now I'm going to kill you," Lily growled.
Lily was about to run the girl in front of her through with her sword when something hit her in the head.
"Actually, Lily, now that I think about it, I want you to kill him first," Ashley said behind her. Lily nodded and moved her sword over towards the boy tied up next to the girl.
"Lily, it's Aaron. You don't want to kill me," the boy said. Lily shook her head, only thinking that Ashley was her master, and she had to do what her master said. Lily put her sword on the boys throat, ready to skewer him.
"Wait a second, Lily," Ashley said. Lily nodded. "So now you see how powerful I am?" Ashley asked the other kids.
"Oh, I put nothing past you at this point Ashley. You just keep going lower and lower," the boy said. Lily pushed her sword in a little deeper, effectively shutting the boy up.
"But if you don't be nice little prisoners, I'll just have Lily kill herself in front of you," Ashley said. Lily nodded, not knowing what else to do.
"How could you just watch someone die in front of you?" The girl tied to the tree asked, horrified.
"Oh, I never watch. I just kill them and leave, Jessica," Ashley said. "But enough talk. Who should I have Lily kill first?" She murmured. Then she smiled.
"Let's have her kill you, Aaron," she said evilly. "Kill the boy, Lily." Lily nodded and brought her sword back and started to swing when something in her head said STOP! She caught her sword hand, stopping it from hitting the boy with just a couple of inches.
"Did you hear me? Kill him!" Ashley growled behind her. Lily nodded again and swung, giving the boy a cut across the cheek. He growled and tried moving through the ropes.
"I said to kill him!" Ashley yelled at her.
Lily flinched and nodded. She had to do what Ashley said. She brought her sword back again, ready to deliver the death blow.
"Lily, it's Aaron. I'm not an enemy, I'm your boyfriend. You love me," the boy said. Lily hesitated, a memory of them kissing in front of her cabin.
"Aaron?" She whispered. The boy nodded.
"Yes, it's me! You don't want to kill me, Lily," he said.
"No!" Ashley screamed. "You will not beat me!" Blue fog started swirling around Lily again, making it to where she couldn't see.
"Fight it, Lily! Fight-" Aaron's voice died away, taken by the fog. It started swirling faster, making her dizzy. She saw a flash of brown hair through the fog, and heard a scream. Lily collapsed, her thoughts muddled. The blue fog fell away from Lily, leaving her feeling vulnerable and lost.
"What happened? And where's Lily?" She heard a voice shout. Lily was about to call out when she started shaking like when Ashley had done the spell on her.
"Lily! Lily, what's wrong? Lily?" She heard a voice say beside her. A hand touched her shoulder and she screamed. It felt like someone had given her a hard shock when they touched her.
"Lily, you're fine. You'll be ok," the voice said again. She opened her eyes to see a boy's face over her.
"He's an enemy. You don't want him near you," a voice whispered in her head. She started scooting away from him.
"S-stay away from me! I-I don't know you," Lily stuttered. The boy looked crushed.
"Lily, it's me! It's Aaron," the boy said. Lily shook her head.
"I-I don't know you! You're my enemy!" Lily screamed at him. He shook his head.
"She's in your head Lily. She did something to you," he said. "She's in your head." Lily shook her head, about to reply when darkness crashed over her.