𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Moral choice. Nothing is properly considered either good, or bad, aside from those things that are within our own power to control, and the only thing fully in our power to control is our own volition.
Esmerelda's attempts of...
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▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY THREE ▬▬▬
ESMERELDA WOKE UP ON A bed and for a happy second, she thought everything she had gone through was nothing but a bad dream. Then her mind registered the burning pain she felt coursing through her body and realized that her 'bad dream' was actually reality.
She felt something wet on her lips and chin. She sniffed a little. It smelled like... oatmeal?
"You're awake...!" A small voice whispered. Stiffly, she turned her head a little to see a young boy. Her eyes widened in recognition as she took in his curly red hair and blue eyes. It was little Aiden, except he wasn't so little anymore. He had grown a few inches and looked older, he was probably around ten years old or so now.
"Ai...Aiden..." She croaked, her throat dry and broken.
He set down the bowl of oatmeal he was holding and reached out for the glass of water on the nightstand. "Do you need water?"
She tried to nod, but her neck kept burning so she whispered out a hoarse "Yes," instead. He nodded in understanding and, rather than handing the glass to her, he carefully dipped the edge to her lips and let her drink. The ice cold water pouring down the passageway felt like glaciers stabbing into her throat. It hurt a lot, but she knew her body needed to be hydrated so she beared with the pain.
Aiden frowned, seeing the painful expression on her face. "I-I should get you some nectar..." He mumbled to himself, leaving her line of vision. He came back a few seconds later with another glass of golden liquid. Like with the water, he helped her drink that too.
The nectar was so much better than the water. The second she swallowed it, the ache in her throat had healed and the agonizing pain her body was in had disappeared. But the latter was only alleviated for a brief moment. A minute passed and the pain was back again, but at least she felt better to talk.
"What... happened?" She asked quietly. Why was she not holding the sky anymore? Was that part even real?
"You couldn't handle the skies anymore," he explained in a small voice. Well that answered her second question. "Ethan noticed that your body was breaking down, so he and Ally begged the General to let you go. So—so he let the goddess take your place. You're in one of the rooms of the Princess Andromeda now."
She fell silent. While she was glad that the skies didn't crush the earth, Artemis was forced to take her place, and she was the one person who would give them a fighting chance against a Titan. She hadn't realized it until now, but her Titan relatives were honestly fucking terrifying. She thought standing in Olympus before the gods and waiting to be judged was scary, but Atlas was on a whole other level.
"How long...?" She asked.
He tilted his head. "Ummm... You were carrying the skies for about thirty hours and then Ally said you fainted when you switched out with the goddess. You've been out of it for... three days, I think?"
