Erased Memories

I Die Inside

I Die Inside

"Ready to go to the Void? There's only one correct answer, by the way." I twirled Oblivion in my hands as I faced Tartarus.

"I'd rather not. How about this? You go instead of me." He pulled out his own sword and twirled it like I was with Oblivion.

"Wrong! Say goodbye." I twirled my sword one more time and charged. I swung my sword at his head and he lifted his to block it.

I feinted to the right and struck at his left side. He saw the move coming and swiped my sword away, returning with a slash of his own. I jumped back, the sword cutting a gash in the ground where my feet had just been.

I slashed, he blocked. I rolled, he stabbed. He swiped, I parried. He jumped, I lunged. I shot a ball of power at him, he sucked it up and shot his own. I turned the ground beneath him to water, he gave me my own personal storm cloud.

We fought as an even match, neither of us harming the other. That is, until he tried to be fancy. He spun in a circle and rolled around me, trying to look fancy. I whirled around and blocked his stab before it hit me. He had swung with enough force to make his sword bounce off mine and knock him off balance, so I took my chance and jammed Oblivion down into his heel. I guess I had something against god's heels.

He howled in pain and golden ichor dripped from the wound. Since he was weakened, I pushed Oblivion through his heart, sending him to the Void.

Breathing heavily, I dropped my sword and laughed. "Ha. Ha! It's over! We did it!" I cheered and the campers lifted me and my team onto their shoulders. They carried me down the hill to the Big House, where Chiron was waiting. He had laurel wreaths for me and my team, but we politely declined.

They put us down and we wondered where to go next. The infirmary.

I was scared of what I would see, but I went anyway. There, we saw dozens of wounded campers. I was relieved to see nothing serious though. All in all, we had only lost ten campers and Hunters combined. Not too bad.

Their cabins made shrouds for their fallen siblings. One camper came up to me. "Here, I thought you would want this." He dropped a pouch in my hand before running off, obviously scared.

I frowned and opened the pouch. My face froze as I poured the contents into my hand. The white dust clumped in my hand. Blackjack's remains.

I closed my eyes and willed away the tears that were forming. Daedalus came over to me and whispered in my ear. Slowly, a smile reformed on my face as he explained his idea. "All right." I agreed and he grinned, leading me towards the stables.

We reached the stables and I handed the dust to Daedalus. He rubbed his hands together and blew on the dust. It floated onto each Pegasi in the stables and blessed them. Each of them would carry on his spirit through his speed and courage. Blackjack would live on.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing. A celebration was planned for later tonight. Campers stitched together shrouds, mourned over their lost friends, and celebrated.

They should be! We just won a war, without the gods help. I'm actually glad that Chaos sent us here. It was just what I needed.

Chaos . . . There goes my good mood. Three of my friends died. Chaos, Nancy, and Blackjack. It was too much to bear.

"Hey, Percy?" Luke was looking at me. "Don't do something you'll regret. Come on, campfire. Time to burn the shrouds and interrogate traitors."

We gathered at the campfire. The Olympian gods appeared to say farewell to their fallen children. The shroud for each demigod was lit by his or her parent. I would hate to be their mortal parent right now.

We all said a few words and I talked about Blackjack. While I was talking, Hades had a thinking look on his face. I shook it off, knowing he couldn't defy the rules and bring someone back from the dead.

Campers, Hunters, even gods were constantly striding up to me, congratulating me, thanking me, giving me their condolences. I thanked them, but otherwise didn't care. The Hunters left with Artemis and the gods disappeared back to Olympus.

The traitors were interrogated, yet none of them proved to be saveable. Each one was dangerous and was sent to the Void. None of us had the heart to kill them.

At the campfire, Chiron stood at the front of the crowd and raised a marshmallow stick. "Heroes, we have fought a large battle today, and won. Congratulations. This victory would not be possible without Sotirios and his team. Thank you." Chiron bowed to me and I managed a small smile. "Without them many more would have died and we would not have won. I hope you all appreciate this. Sotirios may reveal himself at some point before they leave, but in the meantime, I hope you will respect that and not pester him."

Murmurs flowed through the crowd. "If he would like to come up here, Sotirios may have something to say about his comrades. We know that he and his team lost three of their members. Chaos, Nancy Bobofit, and Blackjack. Chaos, the creator of our world, gave his life to save another. We all knew Nancy from the second Titan War, where she died from a dracaenae. In this war, she was killed the same way. Blackjack died saving too demigods, Thalia Grace and Nico di Angelo. Thankfully, they are still alive. These three people sacrificed themselves, which makes them heroes. Sotirios, would you like to say more?" The campers looked at me expectantly. The dead faces of my friends stirred up a bad feeling in my stomach.

"Physical pain doesn't hurt me, but the emotional pain swallows me." I said, and instead of joining Chiron, I simply turned away and ran down to the beach. There, I teleported myself into a forest far away. I needed to be alone.