Hunters of The Stars

Eighteen: ☽ Marissa gets knocked out by a lizard ☾

hey guys! school is starting for me this week so im going to be updating on sundays from now on.

Also, sorry about the short chapter.

~

elena

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Eighteen: ☽ Marissa gets knocked out by a lizard ☾

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I felt the hair get sucked out of my lungs as I rushed toward Marissa, everything blurring around me. I was aware of the monster dissolving to dust and the confused questions coming out of everyone's mouths. They all wondered where the strange attacker had gone.

I knew I had to get Marissa out of here and to the plane. Everyone would be trying to help her and that would only delay our mission.

I sunk to my knees next to her, putting my fingers to her next, feeling her pulse.

It was strong

Being a demigod had a huge result in that, but it wasn't enough.

I took off my backpack and searched through my bag, my hand clasping the small jar of Ambrosia.

I looked at her; her skin was turning pale, and the trickle of blood made its way down her cheeks. I took the sleeve of my jacket and wiped it off, feeling sorry.

If I had paid attention then she wouldn't be like this.

We would be on our way to the plane.

I took the jar and placed it on her lips, careful not to spill or give her too much.
It was the drink of the gods after all.

I felt her body tense and I closed the cap of the bottle. I stored it away in the closet pocket of my backpack, struggling to zip the zipper with my shaky hands. Marissa would be better, but not in the condition I wanted her to be in.

My hands raced to zip my backpack and sling it around my shoulder, to be ready to help Marissa to the plane without anyone noticing. I felt people rushing around, yelling and calling for medical help for the poor helpless girl that was attacked by the maniac with the gun.

I felt like laughing at the situation.

I looked over at Marissa; her eye lids started fluttering to life, no doubt that soon she would be ready to go.

I looked down at the watch on my wrist, the cool metal touching my skin, and saw we had a half hour until our flight would be leaving. Apollo and Gwen were probably boarding, worrying about us. I had to think about someway to get Marissa stable enough. She wanted to help fight me, and look what happened. It was my fault.

She entrusted me to keep her safe on this quest, and I blew it. Now, she laid there, weak and living off Ambrosia. All thanks to me.

I had to protect her, and protect myself.

I felt a weak, fragile hand grasp my wrist. I glanced down to see Marissa staring back at me, her usual stormy grey eyes now a fading light grey. Her tan skin fading to white. Her breathing was slowly calming down, evening out.

"Clara," she said softly, and I wiped the fresh tears from escaping from my eyes. She struggled to sit up and I struggled to keep my emotions in check. Marissa leaned against the white wall of the airport security, wiping her pants slowly. She looked around the room, and I could tell from her expression that she was judging everyone. "We need to leave before these freaks start harassing me about how quickly I'm healing."

I felt a weak laugh escape from my lips, and I had no idea why. "You almost scared me. I thought you were dying."

Marissa waved me off, but it was weak. "I wouldn't do that to you, even though you do bug me sometimes." She broke into a crooked grin. "Let's go." I nodded slowly before helping her get up. I slung my arm across her shoulders, slowly but surely, helping her stand up. Marissa planted her feet on the ground before rising, tripping a few times but finally stabilizing herself.

"Get off me, you sappy mess." Marissa smiled at me, making a weak attempt at a joke. Harsh, but true. I released her, careful just in case she tripped again. Ambrosia only did so much.

A few people noticed Marissa starting to leave, and confusion flashed across their faces, but we rushed as quickly as we could past them. We didn't want anyone delaying us. I also didn't want anyone recognizing us later and questioning how well she was doing.

I jogged ahead of Marissa, looking behind me a few times in case she needed help. So far, she looked better than she did. Her color was coming back to her, but not completely. She would need to sleep on the plane the whole time, even if she complained about it.

Multiple sections for different gates blurred past us; people carrying their luggage and sitting down on black, metal seats, a large window of the airplanes on the outside. Little desks with men and women scanning boarding passes beeped around us, and little TVs above us projected the times of when planes would be deporting and arriving. On the other side of us lined gift shops and coffee shops.

We probably looked rude, running through everyone and weaving through different lines. But the time was running out and we didn't want to leave Gwen and Apollo hanging.

I pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of my back pocket; my boarding pass. I looked at the gate and saw it, N-20. Only a few feet away, I saw, as we ran down the slopping tiles on the ground. A large line was spread across the waiting room, and I took a quick glance at my watch: 8:20. Only ten minutes.

Marissa was tagging along slowly, but I stopped my steady pace to wait for her. We were the last ones in the long line, but it was better than nothing.

By the time we made it on the plane, Marissa was barely conscious. She leaned on me the whole journey through the crowded aisle of the airplane. People gave us weird looks, probably judging us on how late we were for the party.

The seats were all occupied except two seats in the far back.

Gwen leaned her head against the window, turning her head once Marissa and I came into view. Her eyes lighted up, but once she saw Marissa, her eyes softened.

Apollo, on the other hand, was busy.He licked his fingers before flipping a page restlessly. His magazine was clearly outdated, the pages yellow and I had no idea what it was even about.

Once Marissa and I scooted into the two empty seats, Apollo closed his magazine. He sighed in relief, at least I hoped it was, and stuffed the magazine in a small compartment located on the back of the seat in front of him.

Marissa and I buckled ourselves into the uncomfortable fake blue leather seats. Before I knew it, I felt Marissa's body slump against me.

"How nice of you to finally join us," Apollo said over the lady talking about safety in the speakers.

I turned my body so that it faced his and plastered on plastered fake smile. "How nice of you to care about our safety," I said sarcastically, making sure to sound sweet at the same time.

He rolled his eyes and tightened his seatbelt, careful not to disturb the guy with some rather large gut seated next to him.

The seats Hermes got us were sure luxurious.

I turned back to Marissa. Her color was back, and her eye lids droupped slowly, the inevitability of sleep catching up to her.

"What happened?" Gwen asked quietly, poking Marissa in the cheek. Normally, Marissa would slap her hand and yell, but she was clearly not conscious enough to care.

Before I could get out a reply, I tightened my grip on the armrests of my chair. The feeling of being lifted off the ground made my ears feel like they would burst. I almost forgot about my fear of airplanes, but that was clearly thrown out the window.