My Mistake (Sequel to My Life) #WATTYS2019

Chapter 13

(Vanessa's POV)

They all stared at me with desperation. "What do you mean that we've been stuck here for 16 years? How? We- We didn't age at all though!" Kayla shouted at me, almost angrily as soon as she gained consciousness.

Aileen floated towards her, and tried to muster up a friendly smile, but her ghostly appearance made her look more hostile if anything. Kayla flinched away, moving behind Victoria, who gave Aileen a wary glance. I noticed the hurt flash across Aileen's face and I made a mental note to talk to her about it.

Charlie quietly watched us, and I noticed that Nico had his eyes on him. Well, not romantically, but more so was just watching over him to make sure he doesn't pull anything; Charlie did have a dangerous and hostile air about him. I nudged Nico forward. "Say something to calm them down- anything," I whispered softly, wanting them to be hear his voice a little more so that they wouldn't be shocked whenever he spoke.

"Uh.... Um... at least... at least you guys aren't dead," he said half-heartedly. The twins started whispering to each other and I face palmed. "Nico, that's not comforting at all." I said lowly, almost in a growl. He shrugged. "You see, I don't specialize in 'comfort'," he said sarcastically.

I sighed softly and then smiled at the six in front of me. "Okay, listen. We don't have much time, okay? We have to go and get the gem-" Victoria interrupted me. "What gem?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. I bit my lip. This is going to be a lot of explaining.

I leaned against a rock and played with my hair as I started to talk. "So... Calypso has made a deal with Erebus, my, uh, half-brother. Basically, if she can get him the Gem of Janus, then she'll be spared from Erebus's wrath against Chaos, my dad." Everyone but Charlie nodded in understanding. I don't think I've even seen a muscle in his body move. Suppressing a shudder, I continued.

"With this gem, my half-brother could drain my dad of his power. Janus blessed Erebus for some reason, and now, just by becoming a counterpart of a god, he can drain and obtain their powers... I guess you can't more powerful than Primordal Chaos itself," I said, chuckling half-heartedly at my terrible joke.

Victoria looked at Kayla before saying, "This is like another version of Zeus and Kronos's relationship. But this one can lead to everyone's ultimate death." At that, Kayla and the twins giggled lightly- which amazed me, because those two seemed the most terrified of this situation.

I noticed some movement on my right, and turned my head. Their dad stared at me. "So you're the girl in this prophecy.... Wasn't someone supposed to die?" he asked bluntly. My eyes hardened and my body stiffened. "Yes, and he already did die," I said, staring at my feet. Their dad gave me a sympathetic nod and then looked down himself. "You know people will still die, even if he already died," he said, his voice deep yet soft and quiet.

It never occurred to me that people would still die on this quest. What if one of them dies? What if-

"But don't worry about it too much. It's not like you can really change what's going on. The Fates had already determined our destinies from the moment we were born. All we can do is to hope that we don't end up shamefully leaving this world.

I stared at their father, amazed. But he did have a point.

I guess by this point, I should just sit back and wait for death to arrive.

...

Nevermind, I won't do that.