him, in all of his glory.

18. 𝘔𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨

It felt like someone had punched me in my heart.

Just over 2 hours had passed since Malcolm had been taken, possibly been killed even. And I just couldn't contain myself anymore. First was denial, then heartache and now I was just sitting on the ground, emotionless from all the crying. Percy sat down next to me and held me. He was just softly patting my head and trying to tell me everything was going to be okay. He had been through this and worse. I'd never really lost anyone except for my mom. But I won't get into that now.

I guess the possibility of losing anyone on this quest had never really gotten through to me, until it happened. All the sudden I just remembered that I was still on a quest. Just meters away from finishing it. I took a breath in and looked at the sun. I could feel strength coming back into me again. My powers were back. Now was the time. Malcolm wanted this. He needs me. Whatever happens. I'll do anything to get him back.

I stood up and Percy stood up besides me. I looked at him deeply. A tear still leaves my eye. He softly grabbed my cheeks and I pulled him into a tight hug. The hug was familiar and nice. It calmed me down and I pulled away from him.
"It was my fault." I said.
"You couldn't have helped it. It's okay."
"What if he dies?" I asked
"Not if we still have a plan of saving him. Now is the time. We climb the last meters. Get the necklace and go home. We find Malcolm. And everything will be good. Everything will be normal." He assured me. I nodded at him. And he started getting our stuff. He kissed me one last time before we started hiking again. I could feel my heart through my chest. But now is not the time to dwell.

The hike was still pretty hard not gonna lie. I tried fighting every urge in my body that was telling me to stop. And whenever I almost did give in to that urge, Percy would hold my hand, and walk with me. Giving me that extra strength I needed. I felt grateful for still having Percy with me. But things just didn't feel right without Malcolm.

After what seemed like forever (but was actually just 3 hours or so), we arrived at the cave. It was the right one. And I have no idea how me and Percy got so lucky that we actually got the right cave, but we did it anyway. I fell to my knees and just took it all in. Weeks of struggling had brought us here. To our final destination. The cave looked like any other cave. The opening was I think about 2-3 meters high and you couldn't see much into it, except for what the light showed us, which was a tunnel. Percy looked at me and smiled.
"You did it." He said in a soft tone.
"We did it." I said.
"I just wish Malcolm was here with us. I know he probably would make a stupid witty remark about the rocks or whatever" I said and Percy nodded

I got up and looked behind me for the views one more time. It was breathtaking. A lake was between us and the mountains across from us. The sun was still in the sky. But soon we were going to step into the darkness. Gods knows how long it's gonna be until me and Percy see the sun again. I took a breath and looked at Percy. He nodded and so did I. It was time to end this. We walked inside and the warmth already disappeared a bit as we entered into the shadows. Both me and Percy had flashlights and so we turned them on to see. I looked back and slowly saw the light disappear. I wonder how long this cave goes on like this? I wasn't scared but the total darkness did make me question if we had been in the right cave. Odysseus had to be here somewhere. The cave was also totally silent. Only little drops of water dropping into the ground, filled the echoes of the cave.

"Hey! Look at that!" Percy suddenly said while pointing in the distance. He turned off his flashlight and so did I. I could see a little yellow light coming in from the distance. We turned on our flashlights again. He smiled at me.
"That's it. That's where he's hiding!" I said. We started walking faster towards the lights until the yellow lights were closer, and closer. The first thing we saw were actual furniture items displayed in the middle of this weird tunnel cave. There was a yellow carpet, with a red sofa, torches hung up from the wall. A table, with chairs, some fruits displayed on it. It was such a surreal vision. Just in the middle of this tunnel.
"Hello?" I said.
It stayed quiet.
"Maybe he's just fetching food. It wouldn't hurt waiting on him. We could just sit here." Percy said while pointing to the red sofa and sitting down on it.
I looked around. The sort of living room era ended and a wooden wall was between the living room and the rest of the tunnel. It also had a door. Which fucking person puts a door in a tunnel? I wonder if
Odysseus was hiding behind there.