Heart Pierced - Kayla Knowles (1)

XIX. Hephaestus Helps Me Realize Something

First thing I knew when I woke up was that I was tasting sand.

Yes, sand in my mouth.

Disgusting.

I spat it out, then winced when I closed my mouth. Fuck. I am so going to kill Percy for this, since now I was dead, it seemed and Kayla would be forever depressed.

I opened my eyes, struggling to do so, which confused me. I should be dead - what the fuck?

First thing I saw a stone ceiling, as I was staring straight up at it. From the position of my body, it seemed that I was laying down on my back from the way I felt.

The ceiling was bright though, for some reason, and I could hear the sounds of the sea, and it did feel warm.

I blinked once, then twice, straining to do so. I turned my head to the left, and even that took effort. There, on a stone bed nearby, was Percy in a white t-shirt and a drawstring pair of gray trousers. He was still asleep, it seemed.

I heard footsteps approaching, so I turned my head back to the first position, once again straining as I did so. A woman entered my field of view, a gorgeous one at that. Lovely almond eyes, silky and gorgeous caramel-blonde hair, wearing a white dress with a headband around her head.

I immediately recognized who she was.

Calypso.

Imprisoned by the Olympians for her support of the Titans during the last Titan war, she was stuck on a phantom island, unable to leave it but others could. If I was on Calypso's island along with Percy, that meant.. despite all odds..

..both of us had survived the explosion.

That meant one thing. I wasn't dead after all, I was alive.

That thought led to another. Kayla.. I gotta get home to Camp Half Blood. They need me.

"I see you're awake.." Calypso spoke, snapping me from my train of thought. I could only nod in reply.

"Rest up for now.. you're both too weak.." she told me, and I once again nodded. "Safe to say.. never seen two heroes land on my island at once before."

I mean, the idiot next to me produced an explosion that got us into this mess in the first place, I thought to myself as she walked off for now.

I closed my eyes, because yeah.. I was very weak. Percy looked no better, so rest is what I did.

- — - — - — - — -

When I opened my eyes again, I was able to do so without straining as much as I did before. I could also move around a bit more easier, though it still took a bit of effort.

I turned towards where Percy was. He wasn't there. So I looked out towards where the light was coming from.

I could see the sea for a far distance extending outwards outside of the cave I was in, and a sandy beach rising upward from the shore for about maybe 50 to 55 yards before a grassy plain with some trees covered the rest of the short distance to the mouth of the cave.

I could see Percy out there on the beach with Calypso, evidently in conversation.

I looked down at my body. I wasn't wearing my stuff, though the necklace Typhon had given me was still hanging around my neck. I was, like Percy, in a white t-shirt and a drawstring pair of shorts, though mine were green. I definitely looked like I had taken quite the punishment in the explosion. Plenty of scars along my skin that I could see - arms, legs, feet. But despite that, I was still alive.