annais min was the god among mortals, the death that came along with life. now more than ever, she knew the cost of her existence, of what hades had done when he chose to pursue her mother. everything came down to her and the four other min girls, t...
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CHAPTER ONE: GIRLS AGAINST GOD
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THE SHIP WAS DEAD quiet as Annais watched Melanie sleep. The moon-drenched night sky seemed to shine brighter now that Ezra was gone. Annais couldn't help but think it cruel; the world continued to turn without her at the centre of everything. Annais' whole life revolved around her sisters. If they were the Earth, she was the sun. It was her duty to keep them warm, to protect them from harm. As anyone should do for the ones they loved. How hadn't anyone else felt the deep, agonising sorrow of knowing she was losing them one-by-one? Why was everything so normal when Annais had let go one time too many?
Annais watched Melanie sleep and let the shadows of darkness smother her tears.
In the days that followed Ezra, Annabeth and Percy's fatal tumble into Tartarus, Melanie had barely kept it together. She didn't attend the meetings the remaining demigods held in the Mess Hall (though Leo tried his hardest to drag her there at first.) Sometimes, she didn't even get out of bed. She merely laid there in a swarm of blankets that seemed to swallow her whole.
I used to always be able to sense Ezra, she explained one night when sleep couldn't take her either. Together, she and Annais had sat with their heads bent towards each other, whispering just for the other and the moon to hear. I was always looking out for her, waiting for when she'd need me. But I can't feel her anymore, Annie. What if I go to sleep and she visits me? How am I supposed to live in a world that doesn't have her in it?
Melanie Min, in one way or another, was cursed. From the looks of it, that would never change. Annais wasn't sure what she would do if Ezra came to her as a ghost. If she'd be able to survive the onslaught of grief.
Will you stay with me? Melanie had asked her then. Just while I sleep.
So she did. Annais Min, the new protector, the one who now had to fight away the nightmares and the demons in Ezra's place. Glassy-eyed, she smoothed Melanie's hair back from her face and sighed at the prominent furrow of her brows. She relaxed the slightest bit at Annais' touch but remained fitful for a while.
It was then that the monsters attacked.
Again.
CRASH!
The ship shook and swayed in the midnight fog, creaking and groaning as it splintered and frayed. A moment later, as the dust settled, another CRASH! seemed to tremble right into Annais' bones. Exhausted, Melanie barely stirred. Annais spared her one last look, just to make sure she was safe, before she made for the door and took the stairs up to the deck three at a time. Sword in hand, she wasn't sure what to expect when the darkness parted and, in the dimness of starlight, she found Leo struggling to bring the ship level while Hazel and Hea scrambled through folds of canvas to find Nico.
