Ariana's Trials

Part 2

Ariana's POV

Jack had shown me where the exit was, and I spent the night with a lovely beluga whale. when daytime rolled around again, I popped out of the water and returned to the building that acted as their headquarters. Easy. Tooth was grateful I had reattached her wing, and all was well, except for the fact that Artemis refused to let me go home until we killed the annoying Pitch and his army of nightmares. they had killed this guy before. I was talking with that hot guy, Jack Frost when North walked in with cookies. I smiled evilly as I saw them. 

"I would not recommend trying to eat North's cookies" Jack whispered. His breath was icy. 

"I'm still gonna try!" I jumped up, grabbed the chandelier, gripped it with my legs, swung downward, and stole two cookies from his tray as he passed by. 

"Hey!" He protested "Give them back!" I tossed one to Jack.

"You can't beat someone who can swing from a chandelier!" I sang, pulling myself up as I perched away from him. everyone laughed, even North, as I dangled downward and swung around on the chandelier. "IIIIIIIII'MMMMMMM GONNNAAA SWIIIING FROOOMMM THE CHANNNNNNNDEEEEEEEEELIERRRRRRRRR!  FROM THE CHANNNNNDEEEEELIIEEEEEEEEERRR" I sang "IIIIIIIII'MMMMMMM GONNA LIVE LIKE TOMORROW DOSEN'T EXIIIIIISSSSSSSST! IIIIIIIIII'MMMMMMMMMMMMMM GONNA FLY, LIKE A BIRD THROUGH THE NIGHT!" I kept going with the song as everyone kept laughing. My eyes filled with a vision as I fell off.

Percy and Annabeth were standing back-to-back as a swarm of monsters surrounded them, led by the minotaur. They must have been out on a date when they got attacked. Annabeth was in bad shape, her stomach bulging. I saw myself held in the back by a cloud of black sand, my head limp "See? this is your future. leave the guardians to fail, help me" the vision shifted, and Annabeth, Percy, and I sat on a beach, Annabeth holding a baby, laughing together on the damp sand. "And this is what will happen if you join me" the vision faded

Jack's POV

Ariana had been singing, her sweet voice filling the room when she fell, a cloud of black sand pouring out of her mouth. Pitch's sand. She was convulsing, her sword in her hand, slicing anything she could see, and sand was still pouring out of her mouth as she screamed profanity tears pouring down her face. by the time the sand stopped, she was sobbing "Not my brother. not my sister-in-law." Pitch had threatened her family. I wonder what his play was with her. Sandy tried purifying the sand, but it rippled, forming pictures of what she was seeing, two people standing alone atop a hill, blades in hand, fighting a horde. the same two people and her sitting on a beach, holding a baby. The sand moved inward and started reflecting voices. Ariana, who was slowly being encased by her fear and the sand, kept weeping the same words, "Not my brother. Not my sister-in-law. Take me instead." Sandy managed to remove the corruption, but Ariana was reduced to a weeping mess, rocking gently on the floor, still muttering. Tooth was by her side in an instant, comforting her. We left.

"I wonder what Pitch wants with Ariana" North speculated

"He knows Manny sent her to help us defeat him. He wants to know if Ariana can be swayed to his side by threatening her family. You saw what he showed her. If she didn't join him, her family would be slaughtered. If she did, the picture she saw was of her and her family laughing on a beach together." I said. "And now Pitch knows her greatest fear. Not having her family alongside her in a battle" I said. Sandy made a picture of a thumbs-down, a firework,  a picture of a person holding a sword surrounded in light, and a pop of sand

"Ariana has a stronger aura than you?" Bunny said. Sandy nodded "And she isn't a Guardian? Dang, no wonder Pitch wants her on his side. If she's stronger than Sandy, I'm glad Manny found her before Pitch did" Tooth fluttered out

"Ariana fell asleep." she said "And I have no record of her. I even looked into her brother, and nothing but three teeth. she has some super paranoid parents"

"Neither she nor her brother has memories in your records?" North said

"Yeah. They never had time to believe in any of us passed the age of four from the few memories I got from him. And he didn't know about her until recently. They were kept apart for their entire lives, and they're both nineteen." one of Tooth's fairies zipped up. "Scratch that. His teeth just disappeared from the records"

"Disappeared?" I said 

"Yep. Gone. Poof." Tooth made an explosion gesture.

"Dang" I whispered

Ariana's POV

Sleep was just as tortuous as the sand. The two figures who had me chained to the wall were reduced to one

"You managed to kill Aegir? you are stronger than expected, puny demigod. But I am stronger than Aegir. I will prevail." He slowly drew the knife along my back "I think I shall take my time with you. It will be most enjoyable."

I woke up to the smell of my blood. Great. I pulled some water from the nearby sink and split it in two, one to heal my cut and the other to remove the blood from the carpet. I could hear the Guardians talking outside. I moved myself to the couch and curled up again. No sleep for me tonight.