Life update: Portugal with my family was VERY fun, and I GOT MY A LEVEL RESULTS WOOOO! It's so weird that this fanfiction has been a constant through so much happening in my life. As for the late chapter, my life is messy and uncertain (but good) right now, so my schedule is also messy and uncertain. That being said, I have some chapters prewritten which should be good.
I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
- Meadow
"So. Um." Mari clenched her fist around her pinkie finger and frowned.
"Speak," Adela told Mari, looking up from where she was crouching over the beginnings of a fire. True to her word, Adela was good at finding shelter. They were sitting in a small clearing, dry enough to start a fire but damp enough so that the fire wouldn't become a forest fire. Because that would be bad. Problem was, despite the many, many broken branches to use as kindling, half the ones Adela picked up were very... well, they were very dead. Mari had offered to help search for better branches, but Adela had practically hissed at her to rest. So the whole 'fire' thing was a slow process.
"Okay." Mari took a deep breath. "So, I think I'm going to go back into the labyrinth."
Snap!
The wilted branch Adela had been glaring at broke in two, the pieces cracking as they hit the ground. Adela paid them no mind. "Are you insane?!" she snarled.
Possibly. "No."
"They why the Hades would you willingly go back there?!"
"Because..." Mari sighed. She had to keep speaking now. "Because I can't leave Clarisse alone in there. Plus, I have to finish what I was sent there to do." Mari's stomach sank as she looked at Adela, whose fists were clenched.
"You would be okay with ... going ... without me?" Adela's voice was way too flat as she asked.
What? Why would Adela care? Quite frankly, Mari would have thought she would be relieved. Mari swallowed. "I mean, I wasn't going to force you to come." She shrugged at Adela, "And I know you don't like me all that much anyway. You just wanted to get out of the labyrinth, right? Now you're out."
Adela scuffed her foot in the dirt. "You really mean it?"
"Why wouldn't I mean it?" Mari asked. She glanced at Adela again, expecting her to be glaring. Or rolling her eyes, or something. But she wasn't. Mari's stomach lurched. Adela was hunched over, as if she'd been punched in the gut.
"No, no..." Adela murmured.
"Did you break your jaw again?!" Mari panicked, rushing over.
"No!" Adela snarled at her, backing away. She tripped, tumbling to the floor and falling so close to the fire that Mari acted before she thought, throwing her full body weight on top of Adela and wrapping her arms around the girl, rolling her away from the flames.
Holy fucking shit. She was on top of Adela. Mari's face heated up as she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. Adela's breath smelled like maple syrup, and Mari wasn't quite sure why that made her heart race.
Adela shrieked.
Like a bloody banshee. The sound tore through the woods, shattering the previous silence. The trees around them rustled, presumably as birds scattered to get away from the noise. It reminded Mari of a real-life horror movie. Adela's breathing increased. She kicked at Mari, kneeing her stomach.
"OW- hey!" It was all Mari could do to keep a hold of Adela, for fear of her rolling back towards the fire because of whatever this kind of reaction was. "Adela, what are you- AH!" Adela jutted her chin into Mari's head. Pain ricocheted into Mari's brain.
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Kalliope (PJO)
Fanfiction𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 𝟙 Mari should have read the terms and conditions. Seriously. She should have noped out the second that Oak started talking about gods and monsters. But she wasn't very good at making sensible life choices, and that wasn't going to change a...
