Raised from the Depths: The Apple of Their Eyes [A Percy Jackson FanFiction]

Twenty-nine: I'm psycho and extremely desperate

Nico and I only travelled together until we got to the Fields of Asphodel, but that's where he stopped. He said that he felt something pulling him towards the sea of shades, and that he had to follow it. With one last goodbye, we began our separate ways.

And I immediately regretted it.

As I retraced my steps back to the gates, where Cerberus stood on guard, the box in my hands seemed to get heavier and heavier with each step. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I tightened my grip. No way was I stopping now.

But as the gates became larger and larger, there was a nagging voice in my head. What's in the box? It seemed to echo, making my eyes flit every-so-often to the object in my hands. I ran my thumb along the small crack that separated the top of the box and the bottom of the box, my lips pressed in a thin line.

When Mrs. Mazaris had taught us the myth of Eros and Psyche, I thought that the fact that Psyche had even considered opening the box was stupid and childish. I mean, what was so hard about self-control and following orders? But as I walked towards the figure of Cerberus, I could feel the box weighing my arms down, and weighing my brain down.

My mind began to wonder as I passed under Cerberus' legs. These myths were created two and a half millenniums ago. So much time had passed between then and now, and most of mythology was honestly spoken from the mouth several times over before being written down. Even then, most myths are changed to make it more interesting and are often open to interruption.

What if the myth we had read in my mythology class had lied? What if nothing even happened if I opened the box? I glared at it. I bet nothing was actually inside it. There's so many different things that could have caused Psyche to faint. Dehydration, fatigue. Maybe she really just wanted to take a nap, and Eros panicked.

By now, my arms were straining to keep the box from slipping through my fingers, my forehead beading slightly with sweat as I strained myself.

I needed to now what was in the box.

I stopped where I was on the gravel-covered ground, setting the box down with thud and kneeling beside it, brushing the hair out of my face quickly, my hands hungry to lift the lid. I reached down for it, grabbing the lid, when a voice sounded a few feet away.

"Uh, Affinity? Were you planning on hopping aboard or just sitting there opening presents?" Charon spoke, and I glanced up in surprise. His boat was emptying of a few strangling souls, and he watched me with his eyeless pits, his voice void of any emotion.

I snapped out of it, scrambling up to my feet and yanking the box up, shuffling over to the boat and loading. I expected it to capsize under the weight of the box, but it stayed relatively still as I boarded.

It's all in your head. I snapped at myself, sitting criss-cross on the floor and setting the box in front of me. It was what Persephone was talking about. The box was literally weighing on my mind.

Charon said nothing as he turned the boat around, heading towards the other side of the River Styx. My head was clear now, since Charon had distracted me, but it was already starting to fog up again, and I placed a palm on my forehead, cursing myself. How could I have thought it would be so easy?

🔥 🌙 🔥

I felt pounding. Like my head was being bashed into over and over again by a brick. I moaned, reaching with my hand to rub it, and felt a disturbing bump on my forehead.

"Affinity?" A voice asked, hope prominent in the tone. My eyes fluttered open at the recognition of that voice, and I sat up, my head spinning as I did so.

Sol.

Before I could even see his face, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. "Oh my gods, I'm so glad you're okay. When Zephyr brought you back unconscious, I didn't know what to think!" He let me go, taking a few steps back. "You have to be the bravest demigod that's ever lived. You passed the Tasks of Psyche."

His words of congratulations went in one ear and out the other as I watched him, unsure if this was real or not. "How did I get here? I thought I was still in the Underworld?" I questioned, the swirling thoughts in my head making it throb.

"I don't what happened exactly, but Zephyr thinks you knocked yourself out on the way up. When he felt that you had made it back, he found you unconscious. He thought you had opened the box, but there was a huge, bloody mark on your forehead." Sol answered.

Knocked myself out.

I turned to Charon as I exited the boat. "Thank you." I said through gritted teeth, my efforts to keep myself from opening the box waning.

Charon nodded. "Floor 1 to the Overworld. Good luck." Charon state, before his attention returned to the flood of spirits entering his vessel.

I turned, my feet trudging across the bank towards the elevator. I pressed the button with my shoulder, and the doors open immediately, probably due to the fact that I was the only one using it. I entered and set the box down, stumbling over to the button, pressing Floor 1 before sliding to the floor, my energy seeping away with every second.

Just open the box. My mind repeated over and over again. What's the big deal?

"No..." I muttered to myself. "No. No! No!" I growled, slamming the back off my head into the metal wall, trying to shake the idea from my head. I stopped, my head pulsing were I had hit it, and I rubbed it.

You could have knocked yourself out. I scolded myself, but paused.

If I wasn't awake to open the box, then I couldn't open it.

I turned to face the metal wall. In the shiny surface, I could see my reflection. My knotted hair, my dirty face and skin, and the crazy, desperate glint in my eyes.

Question was, was I desperate enough to give myself a concussion?

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and whipped my head forward.

"Oh." I muttered, placing my hand on my forehead. I guess I was that desperate.

I glanced at Sol, expecting him to be looking at me with worried eyes, but he had a smile that stretched across his face. "You did it, Affinity. We can return the Apple of Discord and stop the storms and famines."

"And rescue Mico." I agreed, a small smile reappearing on my lips. At the mention of Mico, Sol's face fell. "What?" I asked, my tone that of confusion.

Sol's eyes churned with sadness and fear, and he hung his head slightly. "We can't rescue Mico. She's gone."