Heroes of Olympus (The Throne of Stone)

Chapter 47 Makes You Do All Kinds Of Crazy Things

Chapter 47

Makes You Do All Kinds of Crazy Things

Anastasia

Percy is seriously the best brother ever. I don’t know why I’m rambling about wanting to die. For reals, I’m just concerned about why I feel like I’m being dragged into the ground by a thousand needles attached to my soul. I feel like I’m being sucked away. My mouth is closed but yet I’m still talking, but it’s not like I can stop talking, like my thoughts won’t be stopped and filtered like when you’re speaking. My thoughts are unfiltered and I can’t stop Percy from hearing them. He has heard all of my doubts and fears by now. I have a weird suspended feeling, like I’m not really here. That’s it’s all just an illusion, I can’t be dying. It must just be one of those dreams.

    I have begun to separate living and dying. Dying is black, it feels like a dark blanket is covering you, and you are warm and cold at the same time, it’s actually very pleasant, and also entirely too easy. Living is red. It’s blood red and it makes me feel like I’m getting run over by a semi, kicked in the gut by a kangaroo, slapped by my mother, watching my friends die, watching Logan suffer, drinking a river of fire, taking a bath in a batch of acid, and having a headache the size of Mount Everest. No joke, sticking around in the living was not fun.

    “Ana, please, please, please don’t die.” Percy says, his voice cracking. Percy, you idiot! You think I want to die? Sorry, that wasn’t on my agenda for today. I have no intention of giving up. But staying hurts so much. Percy touches me and suddenly my skin turns from fiery to cool. My ears pop and I hear the sea. I feel my wounds begin to mend. Something is wrong with my back. It’s crooked, and I’m splayed out all wrong. Percy keeps touching me and my back snaps back in place making me gasp in pain.

    “AAAGH!” I scream inside my head. Not out loud of course, but in my head I am screaming some not so nice things. My voice isn’t functioning yet. I think that the club crushed my vocal cords. No doubt that Percy healing that will hurt pretty bad too.

    But from the beginning, from my very first breath, that’s what life has been, pain.

The backside of my eyelids turn pink as I am exposed to sunlight warming my whole body.

    “Ana.” I open my eyes reluctantly, I just want to soak up the sun while it’s there.  The light burned and my pupils retract and adjust. Then I realize that the light is too bright to be the sun. A man in swim trunks and loose button up shirt approaches me. I sit up, my head is aching but everything seems in order. “Hi.” The man has dark stubble and his hair is dark like mine. His eyes are the same color as Percy’s. He crouches next to me and takes a seat besides me.

    “Hi dad.” I pull my bangs out of my eyes.  “Long time.”

    “Yeah, sorry about that.” He grinned. “But it’s also been a really long time since you’ve visited me.”

    “What do you mean? I can’t visit you on Olympus.” I looked up at him. He was watching at me, soaking in all of me like I had his godly glow.

    “Wow, you have eyes just like your mother. You’re very strong. I always value strength. What I meant is that you’ve been avoiding the sea. How’s school? How’s camp?” Seems like he skips around subjects a lot. But I’ll play along for right now.

    “Fine. But at school I am so close to decapitating my math teacher. I’m just sticking around for Autumn. She’s hopeless without me.” I grinned at the thought. Autumn is so ridiculously stubborn. She probably couldn’t find her way home without me. “I don’t know about camp though. I mean, everyone’s great, but I think I expected way too much out of it. I think I wanted to see more of you. Which brings me to the point of wny on earth did you leave mom? And Percy’s mom? I’m certain she’s a wonderful lady too, but why do you always leave?”