Down in Flames [OC Demigod Fic]

Chapter Twenty-Four: "Plan B"

"So you're telling me that you saw Rhodes..."

"Yep."

"And you stabbed him."

"Yep."

Dennis laughs so hard, Pearl wakes up and comes out of the hotel room to shush him, frizzy haired and not happy.

"What's all the ruckus?" She mumbles.

"Sabine's a hoot, she says she— get this— stabbed Rhodes," Dennis says incredulously and continues to laugh, as if he's still in disbelief.

Pearl looks at me solemnly. "Dennis, cut that out. She's being serious."

The ghost frowns. "How do you know?"

"Her hands are shaking." It's true, my hands started shaking the minute I pulled the knife out from Rhodes' stomach and they haven't stopped since.

This settles Dennis down enough to allow me to explain why the event occurred. We head back inside the room and I relay to them what I saw in my dream. Pearl listens, her eyes hollowed of any emotion— she still does not know Rhodes is a god, nor what happened in the Cave of Lost Souls. Dennis, however, seems distraught. He interjects with many questions, mostly regarding Rhodes. From what I gather, he has been clueless to what Rhodes' true motives have been; and yet he still believes that his friend is putting up an act, that he is planning to help Hephaestus and my mother escape.

"So what's the plan now? What do we do about... Her?" Pearl inquires with a softened expression.

"I'm going to Iris Message my friends back at Camp Half-Blood, to let them know we're on our way. They can help us come up with a... Plan B of sorts," I answer. "Then we try to get to New York as fast as possible."

I head to the sink, turn on the faucet, and put in a drachma. "Show me my friend Amaryllis."

The Iris Message soon appears and we see Amaryllis strumming her guitar in the Apollo cabin.

"Hey, it's me, I have—" I wave, my voice prompting her to cease her music-making and look up.

"Sabine!" She gasps and sets down the guitar, staring back at me eagerly. "What's up? Have you made a decision?

"Yes, in fact I'm already on the road."

Amaryllis sighs pleasantly. "Oh, good. I knew you'd come back. Truett and I have been worried sick about you, y'know," she runs her fingers through her golden hair, her motions lively and animate.

"I have bad news, though," I speak cautiously, pausing to think about how I should phrase what I intend to say. Being blunt is my specialty, so I decide on, "Someone is going to try and stop us. So if we don't make it to Camp Half-Blood in the next few days... Assume the worst."

Biting her lip anxiously, Amaryllis nods. Her eyes are the size of saucers now; she probably doesn't have faith that I'll return to camp. How I've survived this long must be a wonder to her.

"Is there anything I can do to help? And who are you traveling with?"

"Nothing, Lissa. I haven't the slightest idea what we're going up against. As for my companion, her name is Pearl."

Pearl casually comes into view of the Iris Message to contribute a quick 'whaddup' before leaving.

"There's also Dennis," I poke a thumb in his direction, and he hops quickly over, my eyes following him as he comes.

"Greetings, it is I, Dennis!" He waves.

Amaryllis gives me a confused look. "Who?"

Dennis tilts his head. I glance at him and ask, "Are you not able to be seen or heard in Iris Messages?"

He simply shrugs. "Well, I'm not visible in photographs or video recording. Must work the same way."

"Sabine, please don't tell me you've gone completely off your rocker." Amaryllis looks genuinely concerned for me.

"No, no I haven't he's just a ghost!"

Stating that fact doesn't seem to plead my case.

"Yep, you're totally bonkers," Dennis began to laugh and walked back over to where he was sitting.

"Seeing really is believing, isn't it?" I pose the question to Amaryllis, who seems to have gotten over my craziness.

She sighs and shakes her head with disapproval, though I can tell she secretly wants to smile. "Please tell me you're not getting into too much trouble without me."

As I'm about to reply to her, I hear a loud thud at the hotel door. The sound startles me enough to make both Pearl and I jump.

"What's that?" My friend asks, peering closer through the Iris Message.

The door is knocked down with a considerable thump. Wood splinters fly from the door as it is dismantled, the cracked frame giving way to dark black boots that clomp over it to enter. Immediately I recognize the burly, smug-faced intruder. Zagreus.

"Tsk tsk, Rhodes couldn't carry through. I guess it's up to me to ruin your pathetic plans."

"Sabine!" Amaryllis' panicked voice brings me back to the last night I saw her in person, but I brush the thought away. "We're coming, we'll find you—" with a snap of his fingers, the connection is cut off.

"Your friends can't save you. Nothing can."