The Spirits of the Universe (PJO)

Chapter 44--I Try Talking

"Paul," I whispered in shock. I quickly leaped into action, though, dashing to the Taraxippi's side and shaking him. To my surprise, my hands made contact with his body. For once, the dream world makes more sense than real life.

He slowly raised his head, as if the memories flashing in front of us physically pained him. "Paul lost everything that day," he whimpered.

"It's okay," I said, knowing damn well that nothing was okay. "We'll be fine."

"Paul won't be okay. Paul won't survive if we lose."

Oh, yeah. The race. I could only hope that too much time hadn't passed by in the real world. "We won't lose—" Paul gave me a look that said, Who are you trying to fool? Even I had to admit that I was laying it too thick. So I tried a different approach. "Mormolyce wants you to give up. But you're meant for more than being his lackey."

"Paul was destined for that the moment he failed at his duty of being a father."

"Don't you want to see your daughter again?"

This seemed to gain his attention. "Paul's daughter is dead. Paul's pathetic soul was saved by innocent blood being shed." 

"You don't know that. Now, I don't know the full picture, but it sure looked like Mormolyce didn't know who your daughter was, let alone where she went. It's possible that she managed to escape with the adults on the ground to someplace safe."

"You really think so?"

I hesitated. I'd learned the hard way that making promises I couldn't keep was a bad idea. "I think that if she inherited even one percent of your intuitions, she had a pretty good chance of making it out of that day alive. She's probably been waiting for you all this time."

"Even so, who's going to find her?" Paul asked bitterly. "Paul doesn't know where to look."

"My friends and I will do everything within our power to help you," I promised. "But first, we're going to need to win that race."

"How? Paul is useless. Paul has done nothing except drag the team down."

You're totally right, I wanted to agree. You decided to take me out of the fight in the most inconvenient way possible. But I didn't say it—now wasn't the time. "You have determination, and that's all we need."

"You really believe in Paul this much?" he asked me. Even though he phrased it as a question, I knew there was only one answer he wanted to hear.

"I do," I said. "The rest of the Taraxippi are fighting for their boss. You're fighting for family. Miracles tend to happen when you're fighting for what—or who—you care about. Two of those miracles are fending for themselves while we're stuck in here. What I'm going to need you to do is release this illusion so we can concentrate on finding your daughter."

That's all I needed to say. One second, I was in a dream world with memories spinning around me like I was corkscrewing around Cedar Point. The next, I was back in the chariot, lying on my back. Beside me, Paul gasped as the chariot shook. 

I grabbed Riptide, planning to hop to my feet—but it wasn't as simple as that. Dang it . . . the battle already started.

Only a few minutes seemed to have passed since I lost consciousness, though. The two chariots still had us trapped, with four Taraxippi pressuring us from each side. My teammates seemed to have understood that allowing the enemies to board would immediately result in defeat, so Liam protected the left side, while the right side was up to Aridne. Normally, this would've been a great idea. But there were too many Taraxippi, and my friends were already exhausted from the arduous journey into the Great Forest.