The Afterlife (HoO Fanfiction)

Will

I had been separated from the others and I was disoriented. I kept an arrow on my bow, ready to fire at any moment and in any direction. All my senses were sharp and ready to detect any danger. At the same time, I tried to find any clue that could get me closer to my group.

After a few turns in the labyrinth, I found a corridor that was wider than the others. On each side, dead bodies covered with white sheets were lined up. I continued to move forward to reach a room where more cadavers were lined near the four walls. There had to be hundreds of them. A chill went down my spine, but I forced myself to stay focus. My medical instincts had kicked in and I got curious. I walked up to the closest body and lifter the sheet to reveal their face.

It was Lewis.

A wave of guilt washed over me. I hadn't been able to save him. Because of me, there were kids grieving. I put the sheet back on Lewis's face. I was too curious, so I lifter the sheet of a few other corpses. They weren't people I knew very well, but I recognized most of them. They were all demigods, mostly Camp Half-Blood campers that I had tried to heal during battles or that I had found too late to save.

Despite my shame, I continued. I lifted sheet after sheet, every time my heart sinking as I recognized who it was. I noticed that at the centre of the room a body was prompted on a pedestal, as if this person was more important than the others, or as if it was the last person a medic had tended to and had not the time to line up with the others. I walked to the pedestal and lifter the sheet.

I gasped, in pain. It was Nico, his dark hair contrasting his paler than ever skin.

"No, no, no, no, no."

It couldn't be possible. Nico wasn't dead. I had seen him only minutes before, alive and breathing, in the theatre. Footsteps echoed behind me and I turned around to face Ananke who had just entered the room.

"What have you done to him," I said, menacing, my voice trembling with emotion.

"I don't kill people, she replied."

"Where is he. This is not true, you are lying." I lifted my bow and aimed for Ananke's heart.

"This is only a vision of what could be. At this time, Nico is still alive. I can't promise you that he will make it, though. What you are seeing is what you fear the most."

I started to breathe more freely, but the weight wasn't all lifted from my chest yet. Ananke was known for her lies and I couldn't trust her. The only thing I was sure of was that I was completely at her mercy and that she was playing with me.

"Everybody you see here is a person that you failed to save. They are all dead because of the gods, or because the gods didn't save them. What is the average age of the deceased here? Take a guess," Ananke asked me with her poison-sweet voice.

"I'm not playing."

"Fine!" She exclaimed dramatically. "I will tell you. They are fourteen, on average. All your life, you have seen young people die. Children, teenagers, unable to make it to their adult years."

Ananke and I were in an intense staring contest. I was more concentrated on keeping my aim true than listening to her poisonous words.

"I know what you are doing," I said. "You want to play with my head. You want to make me feel guilty, worthless, ashamed."

"Your words, not mine."

I stayed silent.

"Will Solace, what would you do without the gods. You could be a brilliant doctor, you could find a cure for rare diseases. You could save sick children, ease the pain of the elderly, bring a new life into the world. But instead, since a young age, you have seen so many souls leave this world."

"I'm a doctor, that's my job. And we are demigods, we know that our lives are dangerous."

"Not like this, Will, not like this. Renounce the gods, destroy them, and live freely. There will be no more deaths."

"You know that I can't agree. You know that my friends won't agree. Now move aside, I have to find my boyfriend."

Ananke smiled but did not move.

"Aren't you afraid of death, Will Solace?"

"No, it is foolish to be afraid of death," I said, trying to convince myself. "It is part of human life. We are born, we die. Also, my boyfriend is the son of the god of the Underworld, so..."

Ananke had a bitter smile. I could hear that she was trying to hide her anxiousness. She was losing her grasp on us. Without really thinking about the consequences of my act, I fired my arrow. The tension in my shoulders was released at last. The arrow flew right towards Ananke's heart...

...and she raised a hand. The arrow stopped in mid-air. With a flick of her wrist, the arrow turned around and flew in my direction. I threw myself on the floor, dodging my own projectile by only a few inches.

"Be careful, foolish boy," Ananke said, her voice trembling with anger. "The next one will not miss."

Ananke flicked her wrist again. The ground started to shake. To my horror, all the bodies lined against the walls started to raise. The sheets fell off them and piled up around their ankles. Ananke laughed and vanished in a cloud of smoke. I was left alone facing an army of zombies moving towards me.

I notched arrow after arrow, firing at any zombie coming close to me. I quickly got overwhelmed. As I touched an attacker, it disappeared in a cloud of golden dust. I turned and saw Nico's body moving towards me. He didn't look like he wanted to hug me. Instead, he looked as if he wanted to choke me to death. I froze. I was surrounded and the circle of zombies was closing in on me.

I had no other choice. I aimed at Nico's heart and fired. He crumbled in a pile of gold dust. I tried to fight back the tears and stay on top of my emotions. I had to because I was starting to lose this battle.