Pantheon Book 2: The Way of the Tao

The Real Me

        Melody blinks her eyes open, wincing at the bright light hanging over her. She's soaking wet and chilled to the bone, laying awkwardly in the grass. Slowly the picks herself up, touching her head. She sways in place, her vision blurring. The sun hangs directly above her, showing no sign of the storm she remembers. A sharp pain shoots through her head as the morning's events come back to her.

"Oliver...?" She mutters, blinking against the light. She looks around, trying to clear the fog from her mind. "Marcus...?" She adds, forcing herself to her feet. She stumbles and collapses again, panting heavily.

"Over here," Marcus calls, sending a wash of relief through her. Melody picks herself up, moving slowly this time. Marcus waves to her, sitting a few feet away. Oliver is laying on the grass next to him, his eyes closed peacefully. Melody crawls over to them, touching Oliver's face and chest gently.

"Is he-?" She gasps, but Marcus shakes his head.

"Injured, but alive. I did what I could to treat him," He explains, pointing to a thin bandage around Oliver's head. "It wasn't too bad."

"What about you," Melody says, looking him over. Marcus is covered in dirt and mud, his clothes ripped apart. Dried blood pokes out from his nose, and his arms are covered in cuts. Worst of all, his leg is wrapped completely in bandages, with a pair of sticks strapped to it.

"Worse, but fine," He assures. "I'm just being careful."

"Your leg is broken!" Melody yelps, crawling over to him so quickly that a wave of nausea forces her to stop. Marcus takes her shoulders, guiding her back to the ground.

"I don't know. But it definitely feels broken." He says, putting a hand on her forehead once she's laying down. "Stay there, don't move around too much. Does anything hurt?"

"Forget about me," Melody insists, brushing his hand away. She slides over to his legs, carefully undoing the dressing. "Where did you get all these bandages?"

"The ship," he says, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "It landed over there somewhere. I raided it for supplies as soon as I woke up."

"With a broken leg!?"

"Maybe broken! It might not be!" He counters as if it should be obvious. "I was going to drag you over here, but I figured Oliver needed treatment first."

"I'm fine," Melody insists, squeezing her eyes shut when her vision begins to blur again. "What about Koji?"

"What about him?" Marcus spits. Melody unwraps the last of the bandages, exposing his leg. Like his arms, it's covered in small cuts and bruises. Half of his lower leg is a dark purple, and Melody carefully traces her fingers over it. "He better hope Orochi kills him before I do."

"Didn't you see him? He was terrified!" Melody complains, relieved when Marcus doesn't react to her poking. "And I think he technically saved us."

"You mean by calling a hurricane down on us? I did say that the boat is over there, right?" He gestures away from the river. "He almost killed us!"

"We can fold up the boat. Let's at least find him and hear what he has to say." Melody quickly rewraps his leg, satisfied that it's not actually broken.

"Sure, I'll hear him out. Then I'll kill him."

"You stay here," Melody insists, slowly climbing to her feet. She holds her arms out for balance, wobbling in place for a second. "I'm going to see if I can find him."