𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

the fall

ERITH JAY
ERITH knew she didn't have much time.

Dionysus―or Bacchus, whatever―had said she had half an hour before her fate changed.

She intended to use that half an hour to the best, because she had no idea what the future was going to hold over her head this time.

But she was starting to have a sneaking suspicious, and she didn't like it.

As all of her friends gathered onto the ship, she ran the possibilities through her mind, and again and again, it just kept hitting one awful point, one point that she didn't even want to speak into existence.

Aphrodite pointing at her images in Charleston. Percy and Annabeth in a dark place, bloody and bruised. If you go with them, one of them will die―and I sense it will be Percy.

But Bacchus had hinted otherwise, just a bit―Annabeth had a different path here, on the ship. If Erith could change that...

"Tartarus," Nico di Angelo said. She and Hazel had to lean in to hear him, his voice was so quiet. He leaned heavily on his sister, eating the Wonder Bread Erith had grabbed with shaking hands. Erith passed him a bottle of water as he spoke.

There was something shattered in Nico's eyes. It broke her heart.

When Nico told them that the Doors of Death had to be closed on both sides, Erith knew it was hopeless.

"Listen," Piper said. Obviously she could sense the crew's spirits sinking. "Leo, Hazel, and Frank escaped, right? Which means Annabeth won't be in that bad of shape. Knowing her, she's already won, and she's just waiting for us. This isn't going to be as hard as it looks. It's uphill from here."

As much as Erith wanted to believe Piper was right, there was a tight feeling in her stomach. 

"Speaking of Annabeth," Erith said, "Bacchus told me some stuff." She gave the crew the address Bacchus had given her, then, with her heart feeling like it was in her throat, she pointed at three people: Jason, Leo, and Nico. "I need to speak with you."

Jason raised his eyebrows. "Together?"

"I don't care," she told him. "Just quick."

Percy's eyes scanned her face. She knew it was obvious she was hiding something, and she knew he wasn't dumb. He'd likely already figured it out a million times over. And she could tell the fact that she was hiding it from him was even worse―in the short time on this ship, they had become very, very close and very, very good at trusting the other.

But she could hardly look at him. She felt manipulative. She felt like a beast.

"I need to navigate," Leo told her. "Give me a few minutes to set the coordinates."

"Okay," Erith said. "That works. Just meet us..." she gestured vaguely below decks. "Medbay, or something."

He nodded his assent, and she led Jason and Nico below decks.

To be fair, it was more for the benefit of Nico. She was an Apollo child, and she could see the patchwork of injuries all over his body. Surely they were more mental than physical, but she would do what she could with the time she had.

"Sit," she told the son of Hades, pointing to a cot. He seemed numbed up. Didn't have the strength to protest, so he sat down obediently.

Erith swore under her breath. She needed someone else on the crew here, too, while she spoke to Jason. "Jason, go get Hazel. Quick."