The Demigod Games

Chapter Twenty-five

Hestia tripped and fell to her feet several times as she wondered through the ceaseless sand that was the arena.

As her knees crashed to the ground, some hit shards of glass, purposely placed there by the Gods just get some laughs. Those sick bastards. Pain overwhelmed her, nearly knocking the Goddess out.

The very feeling of pain surprised her, Hestia had rarely felt any pain in her life. Being a Goddess meant living without humane things such as pain, but with an everlasting weight on her soul instead.

She reached a hand down to her knee and felt a slippery substance between her hands. Hestia recognized it immediately as blood. This new blood was strange, it didn't glow or even shimmer in the moonlight. It solely stained her gown with its horrifying deep red color.

The Goddess had no idea where to even begin while in the Demigod Games. The first thought that came to mind was: I'm going to feed Zeus to Gaea myself, that rotten son of a bitch. Her second was: Okay Zeus, when are you going to zap me back? And her final concluding thought was: I'm screwed.

In the end, she decided just to wonder around aimlessly. She didn't have anything better to do. Wondeirng around didn't turn out to be as easy as she expected. Several times turned into many occasions when she fumbled and crashed downwards.

Suddenly, the Goddess remembered. Percy and Annabeth. The Gods had planned to attack them first with the monsters, solely because they were the most vulnerable. That very exploitation of the young demigods at their weakest time was absolutely horrendous by Hestia's eyes.

At that time, she decided that staying alive wasn't her purpose in the Demigod Games. Her purpose was to rescue the demigods from each other and the monsters the Gods sent lose.

Almost as if Percy and Annabeth could hear her, the Goddess weakly whispered. "Beware, daughter of Athena and son of Poseidon, the Gods want you dead."

--

Aelia curled up in ball, wincing as waves of pain crashed into her. She found herself bobbing in and out of sleep constantly, but something snapped her out of her daze.

A smell, a specific one, filled her nose. Her head felt lighter as the smell grew stronger. When Aelia snapped her eyes open, blazes of fire flashed before her.

She didn't have time to be confused, she only had enough time run out of the arena, clutching her arm in one hand to keep it from injuring itself any more.

Aelia fell under the belief that was safe. The forested area was the only non-desert place in the entire arena. Watching it burn insured a certain death. She wanted to cry, but she dry air of the desert had already began to steal the moisture from her throat. She wanted to scream, but then Edward or Maverick could find her.

The flames allowed Aelia to see each step she walked, so she could make sure her arm could get out unscathed. Aelia realized then that she didn't have any supplies, only the clothes on her back.

She wept silently, knowing that this could very well be the end for her. But out of nowhere, a bow and arrow popped right in front of her. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. "Thank you, father," Aelia smiled sadly as she placed her arm through the space in the bow and placed it on her shoulder. She slung her quiver of arrows right next to it and began to walk with a little more confidence in her stride.

Each step started to become more and more agonizing as the hours went on, step after step. The light from the flame had already died out, meaning the entire forest was already gone. Just like that. Aelia's swelling feet felt like bags of rocks as she trudged.

When she finally tripped over a random item, Aelia fell hard. Right on her arm. She winced and cried out, not caring if anyone heard her.

At that moment, she saw no hope for her living. She only could see herself dying, one way or another. She supposed dying a humane death in the sand wouldn't be entirely bad. It certainly beat being sliced to pieces by Clarisse or Edward.