Her

10

I awake on my side with sand in my face. I'm curled in a ball with the sun beating down on me. I sit up and brush off my clothes. I need to find Annebeth. I can't stop replaying Her final moments in my head. Her dark empty eyes. Her tears. I shake the image out but I can't rid the feeling. I move away from the river and walk up a nearby hill. There doesn't seem to be any civilization anywhere near where I'm at. "Annebeth!" I call out. "Annebeth!" A swirl of sand blocks my view. It pushes me down and I shield my eyes. "About time you called me." Annebeth is standing above me staring down. "Where is she?" I ask. "Whatever do you mean?" Annebeth says with a smirk. "You know exactly what I mean.You said that when you're diseased that you stay here, and then you decide your final resting place. So where is she?" I move stand up and brush the sand off me again. Annebeth smiles. "So you do pay attention. Good, good. I will take you to see Her." Annebeth holds out her hand. I walk over and put my hand in hers. It is getting colder. She whispers unintelligible words and the sand erupts around us. I close my eyes and then I feel Annebeth's hand leave mine. I open my eyes and we are back to the great building with the guards. "She's inside." Annebeth nods towards the door and I walk forward. A guard opens the door for me and I glance inside. There She was. Sitting at the table with Her hands in Her lap looking at the floor. "Hey.." I move closer hesitantly. She looks up and stares at me. Her eyes are as blank as they were when she died. My eyes start to tear up. I swallow and breath in. I exhale and call out again. "Thana?" She looks confused as she stands up and walks towards me. "Lydia?" She tilts her head and stares at me. I'm so glad to hear her voice again. I start to laugh as tears stream down from my eyes. "Yes." I run over and wrap my arms around her. "What are you doing here? Where are we?" I pull back and look at her. "Where is your guardian? She's supposed to explain everything to you?" Her eyes are now more buoyant than I've seen them in years. She looks at me and smiles. "She said she has to take me to some sort of council?" She moves away from me to sit at the table again. I move with her. "Yes. It's kinda creepy, and don't waste their time." She looked confused. "Who is 'they'?" I sighed. "Now that I think about it, I never saw them. I'm not even sure there is a 'them.' I only heard one voice speak." "Oh." A door slams behind us and I turn to look. A very alluring girl walks in. She was wearing a lavender dress that floated along behind her. She wore a huaraches that where black and laced with Japanese Cherry Blossoms. Thana's favorite flower. This matron had long brown hair and deep brown eyes. She strode over to us and placed her hand on her hip. "We have to go. Now." She reaches for Thana's hand and pulls her up. I grab the other hand. "Where are you going?" She tugs Thana's arm out of my grasp and pulls her away. "It doesn't matter! We have to go now!" She bursts into a run dragging Thana along behind her. I didn't know what to do. They were out the door in an instant. I sprinted to catch up with them but just as I opened the door I saw Thana's eyes widen with fear. I swirl of sand gushes up from the ground and in a second, they were gone.