The Afterlife (HoO Fanfiction)

Delilah

We saw the legendary demigods leaving camp to find the other lost demigods. And since then, the tension was palpable at camp. Even if I had just met a new family, I couldn't forget that some people were risking their lives for us. In the meantime, we could only train and make some rounds to prepare for a future attack. I couldn't stand waiting around without news anymore.

They left at the end of the evening. We were now all in our cabins, right after the sing-along. Willow was giving directions to the campers to make sure that the cabin would be clean for tomorrow's inspection. As we prepared to go to bed, Oliver came to sit near my bed.

"Deli, can I call you Deli?"

I shivered slightly, remembering the last person who had called me Deli. It was Hugo. And that Hugo had betrayed us, taking with him Lewis's life. I pushed this memory away.

"Yeah, I guess you can."

"Okay Deli, I simply wanted to say that Willow falls asleep very quickly. And that harpies usually start their inspection with the Big Hall and then they go to the Mess Hall and then the Amphitheatre. It's at that moment that they'll be the farthest from the stables. It leaves you about 30 minutes. Also, Blackjack can guide you."

"I don't get it," I said innocently.

"Oh, I think that you know exactly what I'm talking about." He let the silence settle between us. "Billie knows, she'll say nothing though. Good luck Deli." Then he went to his own bed as if nothing had ever happened.

Oliver was right. Since I had seen the Penelope crew leaving in the van towards Mount Olympus, my bag was ready. A few ambrosia squares, a water bottle, a first aid kit. Now, I knew exactly what was left to do. I waited a few minutes and heard Willow's snores. I then decided to take my bag and slip out of the cabin.

The last sun rays had vanished and I took advantage of the dark to reach Cabin 15. I quickly found myself facing the earth walls of Hypnos's cabin. I didn't know how to let Killian know that I was waiting for him without waking all the other campers up. Not all Hypnos children were narcoleptics.

Only 15 minutes left.

As I was staring at the door, it opened slowly. I only had the time to hide behind a low bush. Lifting my head, I could see Killian's brown hair slipping through the door. I got quickly on my feet to let him know that I was there. He jumped and I put my hand over his mouth before he had the time to scream. He pushed me back vigorously.

"What are you doing here, Delilah?"

"I'm going to the Empire State Building." There was an awkward silence. "What about you? What are you doing?"

"Same as you." We stared at each other. I came to bring him with me, but I never thought that he would have the same idea as me.

"Okay then, stop looking at me like that. Let's go find Adelaide."

I nodded. "Don't you want to take Lewis with us?" I asked.

"No, James is too young. And he already lost Leis. And he cannot see through the Mist. We should let him sleep in peace."

I nodded again. Without saying another word, we headed to Cabin 20.

Even before reaching the cabin, we fell face to face with Adelaide, who was hiding well in the dark. A dark aura seemed to surround her. I was almost attacked by Enodia, who then proceeded to lick my face.

"Calm down, girl!" I said, laughing.

Adelaide sighed. "I guess that I'll have to travel with you, again. Enodia won't let me go alone."

She smiled weakly. I interrogated in Adelaide. "What makes you want to help the others? I really thought that we would have to convince you."

"You have that much of a bad opinion of me? No, seriously, I thought that they deserved a bit of help. After all, we parted ways on bad terms without explaining and they had been decent with us. Anyway, they can't get through it without us."

"Yeah, it's the new demigod generation's turn to take a stand! We'll show the legendary Percy Jackson what we are capable of!" Killian and Adelaide grinned.

Only 10 minutes left.

We ran towards the stables. While we thought that the way was cleared, we heard voices.

"The harpies aren't making a very good job tonight," Killian mumbled.

The voices seemed to disagree with one another.

"No, you know very well that I'm doing this for the sake of both camps!"

"e don't know when an attack could take place. You have to stay here to guard the camps, that's how you'll serve them."

"It's a trap! You saw how weak the attack was compared to the force that could have been used, surely you noticed that! And anyway, why wouldn't I let you take care of the camps?"

"The camps are not my home, it's not my role to protect them. I need to go to help Lady Artemis."

I suddenly understood that Thalia was disagreeing with someone. I couldn't find who. In an instant, Enodia ran to the stables, directly on the to women standing there. Adelaide ran after her dog and we had no other choice but to leave our hiding place.

Thalia exclaimed, looking horrified. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Same thing as you, apparently," said Adelaide in a calm tone. "We all had the same idea tonight."

Before any woman could answer, I exclaimed myself. "No matter what you're going to say, we are going to Mount Olympus. Anyway, you only have 5 minutes left, so it's now or never."

"Who do you think you are? I'm a praetor of Rome and--"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, let's go!" The woman bitterly swallowed her comment. Clearly, only a few people were daring disrespecting her. She however seemed to understand that the situation was forcing her to come with us. She knitted her eyebrows together and chose a pegasus.

"Let's go, Blackjack!" she said.

"Hey, I'm supposed to take Blackjack," I said. The woman glared at me so coldly that I decided to get on a bay pegasus.

Thalia stepped in. "Come on, Reyna, we won't be able to change their minds. Let's let them come with us."

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Then, she shot for the sky. Killian and Adelaide had also chosen a pegasus and I hurried behind them. We had only two minutes left.

We flew over New York to reach the Empire State Building. The pegasi flew over the clouds and we could see a huge, gray storm cloud roaring over the building. And we headed straight towards it. I couldn't help but feel a knot forming in my stomach. Had we taken the right decision? I had the feeling that we could really make a difference, even if the most respected demigods of the era were already in battle.

As we entered the cloud, a shiver vent down the back of my neck. I could feel the tension deep inside me. Dark thoughts were whirling in my head. Hugo, the explosion, Lewis, the blood. Why were these images still haunting me? I forced myself to push back against these images and to erase them. We were the new generation of demigods. It was our job to save the world.

Right?