Rising Heroes Book Four: The Sands of Ouroboros

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Out of Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own HOO or VE

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Out of Darkness

Camp Half-Blood, sometime in the past

As she tried to help the Athena cabin, Carmen couldn't stop herself from looking for Maverick. 

He was better with less head-on confrontation, with tricks and sneaking. But when she caught glimpses of him out of the corner of her eye, he always seemed to be doing well. 

She tried to handle herself well; she had a dagger, and there were grape vines she could control. But soon she was surrounded by hellhounds. She slashed at one, and another came from behind her, scratching down her back and drawing blood. She opened her mouth to cry out when suddenly everything changed. 

She was in the Dionysus cabin, which she had actually only visited once, when Maverick invited her down for a week of the summer and they had kissed for the first time. But it looked completely different now; more old-fashioned, with purple drapes instead of dark red and green grapes growing along the windows instead of purple. She found herself sitting on the floor, a familiar man leaning against the wall. It was Dionysus, aka her sort-of grandfather.

"What are you doing?" Carmen asked as she pushed herself to her feet. 

Dionysus sighed and rolled his eyes. "Saving your life. Obviously."

"No, I-" Carmen started, then stopped. "Wait, what?"

"I mean, you were clearly about to die," Dionysus said. "Those hellhounds would have ripped you to shreds. We do have a little precognition, you know."

Carmen threw her own eye roll. "Well, you can let me out now."

Dionysus threw her a side eye. "You do realize we know where you're from, right? I can't let you affect time any further."

"Then send us back," Carmen said. "Or pull out the others."

Dionysus clucked his tongue. "I would," he said, "except no one else is actually related to me."

And then he disappeared.

Carmen pounded on the door, but everyone was too busy fighting to hear her. She tried the windows, but they were locked.

So instead she sat on the floor, put her head in her hands, and tried to concentrate. The vines were hard to move, but when she got a hold of them she was able to crack the window and push the glass aside.

"Sorry, Chiron," she muttered as she hoisted herself up and crawled through.

When she got to the outside, the battle was already over. Maverick and Waverly were frantically talking with Chiron, gesturing wildly. When Maverick saw Carmen he immediately relaxed and then ran over to her.

"I thought something had happened!" he said. He tried to hug her, but she yelped in pain as soon as he touched her back.

"What happened?" Waverly asked. Her and Chiron had come over, and Carmen suddenly remembered her hellhound wound.

"Hellhound," she said faintly. 

Maverick put her arm over his shoulders and led her to the med cabin. It was flooded with injured campers, and Maverick had to shoulder a guy out of the way to get her a free bed.

"Don't worry," he assured her as her eyes drooped closed. "You're going to be okay."

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Waverly tried to keep her head from drooping as she sat beside Carmen. When Carmen's eyes finally opened, Waverly shook herself awake. "Oh man," she said. "Maverick's gonna kick himself for not being here. We had to force him to eat."

"How long have I been out?" Carmen asked, her voice dry and raspy.

"A couple days," Waverly responded, passing her a glass of water. "Daedalus fixed the watch. Seb and Beth came out of the tunnel- it was awesome. Now we're just trying to figure out how to get it to work without sending Chiron back in time."

"Help me stand," Carmen said, and Waverly did. They walked out of the cabin and into the main area. Maverick was in the dining pavilion and sprinted over as soon as he saw them.

"You're up," he said, planting a gentle kiss on Carmen's lips. The rest of the group followed behind, and Evan gave Carmen a brotherly hug, wary of the wrappings on her back which still felt tender and raw.

"Well," Chiron said, trotting over to them. "I see you have recovered amicably." he gave Carmen a small smile. "It's not every day we treat a Roman. Although I will not ask about the circumstances that brought the two camps together."

"Is there a way to use the watch?" Byron asked.

"There's one way," Chiron said. "I will ask Mr. D to imbue some of his power into the watch. But it may take until the morning."

"I suppose one more night wouldn't hurt," Beth said.

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They spent the night burning shrouds, telling stories of the quest and making smores at the campfire. Grover was telling everyone about his plans with Pan; even Nico was staying for the night. After the theatrics were over everyone headed down to the beach where Seb and Beth stole away for a bit.

"I can't be your partner," was the first thing Beth said when they sat down.

Seb turned to her, brows furrowed. "What?"

"I can't," Beth repeated firmly. "I... care too much about you."

Seb stood suddenly. "This is the opposite of what I wanted," he muttered.

"You're the one who kissed me!" Beth shot back, standing to face him.

"Because I can't stop myself!" Seb yelled. "But I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt with a different partner."

Beth cupped his cheek. "We'll still be partners," she said. "Just a different kind."

"Ok," Seb said softly. "Ok."

Beth tilted her head forward and he responded, kissing her gently. Beth felt a tug of her powers and pulled back before they could dampen.

"I wonder who could be our new partners," she mused.

Seb shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said. "You'll always be the most important to me."

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The next morning, they said goodbye to Camp. Maverick powered up the device, and with a bright yellow glow they were sucked into a vortex of light.