WORLDS BEYOND ( pjo )

𝐱𝐢: uncovered

After moving for what felt like an hour, the group settled in a corridor constructed of marble blocks, which only added to the feel of a Greek tomb. The walls were lit with dim fire torches, and the architecture indicated that it was an older part of the maze—which Kia was wary about, but Annabeth had decided was a good sign.

Kia didn't like the fact that this place looked so old. She felt out of place, like she had been picked up out of her time and plopped into the time of the original Greeks. Her Greek heritage felt just in place here, but the rest of her, the other fractions of the whole that made her Kia protested greatly, settling in as a heavy, dense, uncomfortable rock pressing against the small of her back. She supposed there was something creepy about this place too—reminding her of how far she had come from Camp Half-Blood, the camp that had become her home in the past six months.

Although Kia didn't want to, and she was sure that the others agreed, Annabeth told them to settle down and get some rest. Her reasoning was, "We must be close to Daedalus' workshop. Let's get some rest and we can keep moving in the morning."

Kia didn't listen much as Tyson, Percy, Grover and Annabeth talked, ending ultimately with Annabeth providing a valid point. Eyes trained on the walls of the corridor, remaining cautious, Kia reluctantly set her bag down and sat against a wall.

Though she was tired, Kia didn't want to sleep. Sleeping meant dreams, and she wasn't sure what kind of dream she'd have this time. As far as she knew, she didn't have normal demigod dreams; Kia's dreams were weirdly cryptic and borderline psychotic, and it was always difficult to interpret, if she could even sit through the entire things. Her last dream, the one about Luke asking Kia to join him and her betraying Percy, had shaken her up quite a bit. There was a brief period during which she couldn't even look at Percy, just out of guilt, and for a week after, all she could see when she closed her eyes was Percy's bloodied body in her arms, skin growing paler and colder as the minutes trickled by.

Her eyes, burning with lack of being closed, screamed and begged for her to sleep, but Kia refused. How pathetic she had become, to fear her own mind. In the end, that was the truth: Kia was absolutely fucking terrified of her own mind.

She tensed as someone sat beside her, calming down slightly as she realised it was only Annabeth. In a way, she was grateful it wasn't Percy. She wasn't sure if she could handle sitting next to him.

"Hey," Annabeth said softly.

"Hey."

"Why aren't you asleep?"

"Just... dreams. I don't know."

Annabeth sighed, leaning back against the marble. She pulled her knees up and rested her cheek against them, looking to face Kia. "Do you want to tell me what you see?"

"I..." Flashes of the things she'd seen flashed through her head. Percy, in her arms, dying. Luke, in a pool of blood, eyes golden. Kia's mother, the black-haired woman, the blood-drenched talons lunging towards Kia. Kia jumping out of the building. The burning building. Screams. Her mother's screams.

A sharp pain shot through her head. Just like that, it was all gone. But Kia didn't want that. This time, she... she saw something. She didn't know what it was, but it was something. Desperately, she tried to recall it, but she couldn't remember anything after her jumping out of the building.

"Hey, hey, hey," Annabeth whispered, climbing over to wrap her arms around Kia. "Shh. It's okay. You don't need to think about them. It's okay. You're not there."

Kia hadn't realised a tear slipping down her face. "Annabeth—" The blonde girl jolted; Kia never called her by her full first name "—I don't know what's happening."