Carystus

The prophecy (part two)

Apollo's eyes snapped open, and his face paled. "I... Can't... Tell-" his entire body shuddered and he gasped for breath. His eyes rolled back in his head and closed. Then, slowly, his body began to float upwards. For a second, his body flickered out of existence and Artemis charged at Gaia, her eyes seething with rage. Gaia calmly raised her eyes and nodded, sending the goddess of the hunt slamming into a wall with enough force to make it tumble down on her. All of the gods surged forwards and began ripping the chunks of stone away from Artemis. It was the perfect diversion. I could see everyone straining to shout, or move, to do anything, but we couldn't. We where trapped. And Gaia was out of patience.

She snarled and pressed her hands harder against his skull. "Tell. Me. The. Great. Prophecy." she yelled while a thousand volts of electricity shot out of her hands. Apollo's back arched and he fell down on his back right in front of Gaia's feet. His jaw was clenched and his body was tense. Sweat lined his brow and his skin was so pale it was almost grey. His eyes where still closed. He wasn't breathing.

"Tell me." Gaia commanded.

Apollo's eyes snapped open. They where white, like marble. His pupils where no more than a pinprick in each eye. He was staring straight up, but his gaze was blank, almost as if he wasn't seeing the blue sky above. He looked... As if he was underneath someone's control. Possessed. His eyes still had some flicker of recognition in them. But then they began to glaze over, and even his pupils disappeared into a sea of white. And with them, the recognition disappeared too.

His head suddenly snapped to the right, the entire half of his face hitting the ground. His body became rigid and jerked to the left. His cheek hit the floor. He drew a shuddering breath, and then began to breathe shallowly. By now, Artemis was free. She leaped forwards to drag her brother away, but stopped her hand a millimeter away from his arm.

" You're lucky, Gaia. You are so lucky that today is the day you are the strongest. That I don't have any weapons with me. But I have one question. How deep has he gone?" Artemis snapped.

Gaia laughed, and Apollo's breathing became ragged. " deep enough for not even a leaf touching him," she grinned.

"No." Artemis looked shocked.

"Yes." Gaia responded cheerfully. "If even an ant touches him, he might fade. Or go in a coma." she added gleefully.

Artemis sank to her knees in front of her brother.

"Apollo, please. Listen. Look at me." she chocked out. Slowly, his head raised towards her voice and he looked at his twin right in the eye. " Apollo?" Artemis whispered. But Apollo's eyes where still glazed over. Dead. It was as he was staring right through her. A sudden, sickening thought hit me: he didn't recognize her. Didn't recognize the sky, or anything else. He was practically brain dead. His lips parted slightly and the scent of laurel leaf filled the air. a coil of greenish grey smoke shot out like a writhing snake. The sky darkened. His eyes turned a sickening shade of green.

His lips moved, and the words followed like a badly dubbed movie.

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call

To storm or fire, the world must fall-"

Apollo cringed and cried out in pain. The campground was covered in a sheet of scented grey-green smoke that was curling out of apollos eyes and mouth.

Artemis backed away rapidly. Gaia laughed and grabbed the goddess, pressing a knife to her throat.

"I once heard that if one of you saw the other fade, the same would happen to the witness." Gaia crooned. She wrapped her arm tightly around Artemis' neck, and raised a foot above Apollo's chest. "If any of you step forwards, I'll kill them both." she snapped. Then, she calmly slashed a line down Artemis' cheek. Silver-gold blood poured out onto the blade. Gaia smiled thinly and let the knife hover above Apollo's face. A drop I Artemis' blood fell down and splashed onto Apollo's lips. Apollo shot up into a sitting position. Something dark flickered within his features. His eyes turned coal black, with no whites or pupils. Gaia hadn't noticed yet. She was too busy slashing away at Artemis' neck. The goddess' blood pooled on the ground. Apollo shot up into a standing position and calmly put his forearm on Gaia's neck, and rammed her into the wall. Gaia released Artemis, who slumped to the ground. Apollo continued pressing. His entire body shuddered As more electricity coursed through his body. His eyes became darker and darker. Gaia began to grasp at his hand and was struggling to pull his arm away, but he wouldn't budge. Her free hand slowly wrapped around her dagger and she chucked it at the unconscious goddess. Apollo's hand shot out and the dagger imbedded itself in his wrist. Black smoke curled off his body and he spoke, his voice quiet yet so powerful that the floor vibrated. The words where ancient, and Artemis cringed away from them like they could kill. A sudden swarm of insects began to crawl up Gaia's dress, until she was screaming in terror and pain from the boils that covered her body. Without even a pause, he yanked the knife out and it left his hand, hissing through the air and imbedding itself in the center of her chest. But she merely smiled. "Finish the prophecy" she crooned. Apollo fell forwards onto his knees, and Gaia wrapped her arms around him in a deadly embrace. The bugs scuttled away into the earth. Apollo's eyes dimmed. His head slid down until he was forehead to forehead with Gaia. The curling smoke dimmed to a tired grey. She smiled. " let me and you become one." she whispered. With shock, I realized that the campers where repeating her words. Percy and Annabeth's eyes met mine in horror. But Apollo merely shook his head weakly. He looked ready to die. His eyes, usually so bright, where dimmed to a blue grey color. But there was a quiet power in them. They where my eyes. He was barely able to breathe. Gaia sighed, "Be that way." she snarled. Then she pulled the dagger out of her chest and plunged it into his stomach.