Angels and Death

We Raise Hel (Jk (;)

Warning: Slight gore and cutting, mentions of blood

Word Count: 1097

Recap: "We've got roughly one hour before the sun completely sets." Magnus notified the others as he also sat down. "What time is it exactly??" Our impatient Adri asked. "5:30. Let's all read the instruction again." And they huddled in the cleanest corner and read and reread the instructions.

     "What's the time??" Adri asked, yet again, staring at the domed ceiling. "5:55. Wait for five minutes or I swear I'll skewer you through." Nico answered. "C'mon. You wouldn't dare hurt me, Neeks." Adri said, supporting herself with her elbows. Nico simply raised his eyebrows and sipped from a bottle. "Try me."

     Adri gave a cheeky smile and said in a posh British accent. "Nico, what's the time at this particular moment?" Nico groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "Take this monster away." He lifted his head to look at her and saw something similar to hurt flicker in her eyes. He looked again, but it was gone so fast he was sure he imagined it. "What??" He shook his head in reply and began poking at some snake skin.

     Adri stared at the fishes. She breathed a heavy sigh. "I've always wanted fishes. They always seemed to die in the Underworld though." she said to no one in particular, holding up the bag to her eyes. Nico observed her movements. They were quick and sudden. Unpredictable almost. 

     Her eyes kept flickering over everything. Her eyes had this sort of thing going on, as if she didn't understand anything and at first, it seemed genuine. Until he realized she always knew more than she let on. She was just very good at masking it and appearing dumb and innocent.

     He saw her tracing patterns in the dust underneath her fingers. Ancient greek, he realized. Mother the tracing read. She seemed to do it involuntarily, not realizing she was doing it. Another thing he noticed about her, in general, was her getting defensive. Why? He never knew, but she got defensive about herself, people surrounding her, stuff like that.

     He was deep in his thoughts when Alex through a rock at him. "C'mon. It's 6:25. The sun probably went down completely." They all looked at the time and at precisely 6:30, they began. Alex and Magnus began incantating and they all held hands. After ten minutes of repeating the incantations, Magnus nodded at Adri.

     She broke the circle, grabbed her dagger and slit across her wrist. She didn't wince nor did she flinch. She held her left arm above the basin and allowed her blood to flow in. Next was Nico. She held his arm gently and another slice. He, too, put his arm above the basin. Next was Alex and then finally Magnus. Adri's hand was shaking slightly while holding Magnus' hand steady, but she got a clean cut.

     Next, she fished out the fishes. This time, Magnus and Alex changed the incantation. Noticing Adri's hands shake badly, Nico took the dagger and fishes. He cut them open and let their blood mix in with their blood in the basin. Again, all of them held hands. Nico and Adri, now knowing what to say, joined the other two in saying the incantations.

     They all said it together, in hopes of speeding up the process. The time was now 7:00. The cavern became colder, whether because of the weather or the spirits coming out through the basin, they didn't know. Oh yeah, that's right. Spirits coming out through the basin. 

     Silvery vapours at first, steadily becoming more defined. Their faces horror-stricken, they began wailing loudly. Thoughts filled their ears. Not the demigods thoughts, no, they were the regrets of the spirits. They reminded Adri of the River Styx. Where many spirits abandoned their dreams. The blood seemed to swirl on its own accord. Soon enough, it looked like some sick, miniature hurricane. 

     The level of blood steadily grew, though they stopped spilling their blood minutes ago. The blood reached the brim and the ghosts now looked very solid. They surrounded the four demigods in a circle, all of them holding hands, as if recreating the ritual that took their lives.

     The thoughts became whispers and the whispers became wails. Adri felt as if she were going deaf. She never heard something so horrible. Magnus felt as if it were the daily battle in Valhalla. Just much, much more sadder.

     "I never asked for it!! My wife sold me away!!" "My new mommy hated me. That's why she gave me away for gold." "My father was the king. I was a girl, he had no use for me. So he killed me." Soon, all the voices were overlapping each other, in a deadly, deafening symphony.

     After 20 slow, agonizing minutes, the spirits suddenly stopped. They still stood there, but they went quiet. The others looked around. And then, the wails began again, suddenly, with more ferocity then before. They seemed to get solid too. Solid enough to look like glowing white humans.

     The demigods couldn't understand where they were getting the energy from, until they glanced at Adri. Her face was ashen and she barely managed to stand upright. Magnus, standing on Adri's left used Ald Seidr to give her strength.

     She stood slightly straighter but then the wails become louder and she slumped again. Alex moved closer to the basin and Nico and Magnus followed her lead. Now both of them could support Adri with their arms around her.

     A few more minutes and the spirits finally vanished. There wasn't a sign that said they were there except for Adri, who complexion was growing paler by the second. They all cast worried glances at her but their attention snapped back to the basin when it started gurgling. They watched curiously as all the blood drained as if it were flushed and at the center lay a blood red garnet the size of a grape.

     It was an understatement to say Alex was underwhelmed. "That's it. Four people's blood, two fishes' lives and Adri's strength and that's it!!" Magnus looked disappointed but he came forward and scooped the gem into his hands. "It's pretty light. Also, is this a legit gem?" 

     He passed it to Nico who turned it over in his fingers. "Yeah, it's the real deal." he said, passing it back to Magnus while using both his hands to support Adri, who was close to passing out. They walked step-by-step until they reached the hole in the ceiling. 

     "Hold tight. I'll shadow travel us up there." Nico told Adri and her grip around him tightened. They were in a hug position with Nico arms around her back and Adri's around his waist. They both felt the swooping sensation and then they were back at the first level of the tavern.

     They sat Adri down and gave her Ambrosia and Nectar. Though she took it, there seemed to be no change in her ghostly pallor. "I can walk now, but I still feel weak, like I'll fall if I walk too much." "We'll make sure you don't." Magnus reassured her while he bandaged her wrists.

     Soon, they were back at the hotel by 8:30 because Adri's eyes were literally droping. Nico walked with her, his hand around her middle to keep her steady. "You sure you don't wanna eat?? There's tiramisu here. Gelato too." he said as he eased her on to her bed. "Nah. I'm fine. Just gonna sleep." Nico nodded and turned the lights off and left for dinner with Alex and Magnus.

     Alone in her bed, Adri's consciousness slipped into a not-so-blissful slumber.

AN: So, how do you like the descriptions?? Are they too confusing?? Repetitive?? Once again, thanks for reading.

 Yours,

 Helene 🐺