Daughter of Mother Earth

Chapter Sixty-Seven

"You forgot one tiny detail, my dear daughter."

Dirt swirled several feet in front of her. It compacted into a figure, morphing into a human. A human that looked exactly like Crystal. The fake Crystal inhaled sharply and snapped upright, her posture painfully straight. Her eyes grew unfocused as the color drained from her face and black tendrils flooded over her green irises. Crystal's face was caught in a bruising grip, forced to look at her clone in the eyes. Gaea's voice echoed through her ears as the fake Crystal's lips were pulled into a dark smile. Crystal's vision blurred.

"I own you."

__________________________________________

Finding a body in the middle of a sunflower field was the last thing Frank expected to spot during his lookout. To make it even worse, he recognized that body. Frank immediately dove down in his eagle form, transforming back into a human when he landed.

"Crystal?" Frank knelt next to her unconscious body, feeling for a pulse.

It was there, but barely. Frank quickly signaled Hazel, who appeared within a second. Fear flashed across Hazel's golden eyes as she hopped off Arion.

"Crystal? Can you hear me?" With Frank's help, Hazel removed the vines binding Crystal's body.

The duo sat Crystal up, trying to get her to wake up. Crystal groaned in pain as she regained consciousness.

Frank gently helped Crystal to her feet, catching her when she lost her balance.

Hazel shook Crystal's shoulder. "Crystal, what happened?"

"Gaea..." Her voice was barely over a whisper as she fought to stay awake.

Frank and Hazel shared a look. "What's going on, please talk to us."

"She... created a clone. Heading to ship. Help Annie, Leo..." Crystal was hardly able to push out a full sentence before passing out once more.

"Frank, we need to get to the ship!" Hazel's voice was laced with panic.

Frank gently placed Crystal on Arion as Hazel supported her. Frank transformed into a bird again, following the speedy horse as close as possible.

"Hold on, Crystal! We'll get you help!" Hazel called out, gripping her friend tightly.

Faint hammering could be heard from below the deck. Leo and Annabeth worked in tandem, trying to finish the repairs before the others came back or worse- before the Romans found them. They were working so diligently that the vines snaking toward them went unnoticed. Until...

"Hey!" Annabeth let out a yelp as she was suddenly dragged out of the room.

Leo immediately looked up in a panic. "Annabeth?"

Before he could even think about reaching out to help, another thick vine wrapped itself around his wrists, yanking him above deck. Annabeth was suspended in the air by her ankle, struggling to free herself. The binds on Leo's wrists anchored him, preventing any movement. The sound of footsteps brought their attention to the attacker.

Annabeth's face contorted in confusion. "Crystal?"

The figure tilted its head at the sound of its clone's name. A sickening grin stretched across its face. A sudden blast of heat brought its attention back to Leo, who had broken out of his bonds.

"Crystal, what's wrong with you?" Leo blasted away another vine creeping toward him.

There was no response as a vine whipped itself toward the demigod. Leo continued defending himself as Annabeth reached for her dagger to free herself. She landed on the ground with a loud thud, drawing the intruder's attention. A vine wrapped itself around her neck before Annabeth could even recover from her tumble. It tightened around her throat, restricting her airflow. It didn't take long for Annabeth to start seeing spots. A faint caw of a bird brought her back to reality.