-RECAP-
As I try to stand, I fall back to my knees- holding my ribs with my arm. My lungs felt like a balloon that someone had slowly let the air out of, too weak to fill back up. My body felt like a bag of sand, heavy and immovable.
I fall onto my side, my body hitting the ground and knocking the wind out of me.
I lay there, gasping for air as it feels like every bone in my body has been grinded down into a dust.
I crawl away to find Caius, blood covering my face, my dress shredded, exposing my torso and thighs. My body aches and trembles with every motion, whimpers escaping my lips as I make my way over to him. My hair no longer lit with the flames of the phoenix, the hearth.
He’s still, too still. To see him completely immobile, eyes closed as a pained expression rests on his enticing features. His face is covered in dirt and blood, his body limp and sprawled out from being thrown so hard.
I make it over to him, gently shaking him. “Wake up.” I say, hearing a loud BOOM coming from behind us, echoing through the night. “Please- please, just wake up... don’t leave me.” I beg him, tears welling in my eyes.
“You’re too late.” I hear a deafening voice yell, a loud swoosh being heard before a thump follows, the ground shaking underneath him as he lands. I turn to see his scythe glistening in the glow of the flames as he begins to cut through the giant crowd, his large form hurtling towards us.
“Please, just get up- I won’t leave you!” I wail in panic, my vision blurred as I turn his face towards me. I check his pulse- finding no light tapping underneath the skin on his throat or his wrist.
“No.” I whisper, resting my head on his chest.
“Don’t leave me...” I faintly cry, my tears flowing as a puddle begins to form under my face, a mini pool of emotion centering over his silent heart.
It’s over. We lost.
I look around, seeing most of the people I’d met today had fallen to their death. The hounds ripping and tearing at their flesh, snapping at each other as they hungrily rip at the people I vowed to help. To save.
I hear Cronus approaching, but I don’t care. I lost Caius. Hestia and Poseidon laid lifelessly a few feet from us, and my mother and Jade were nowhere to be found. I could see Nike, Athena, and Zeus standing back to back, using their weapons to poke and prod the creatures of hell away from them. The sound of violence echoed, and I began to feel a heaviness wash over me. I continue crying, feeling Caius heartbeat begin lightly thumping as his chest begins to shallowly rise and fall.
“Caius?” I whisper, looking up at him. His eyes were still closed as he laid there, the dirt and blood crusted on his face causing a shadow as the glow from the flames flickered and danced beside us.
