Venus

Hello. :) This next part comes right after the last. The only thing you missed was a brief introduction. They all arrive back at Olympus, but not for long.

It happened like the quick beat of a drum. The bizarre thought that ran through my head was that the three of us looked like a sick game of dominoes. Peter was standing next to me. Suddenly, he screamed. It was a truly horrible sound, bringing back the nightmare of the first time I had seen him. It was a sound filled with torture and loss. He slumped forward onto his knees, covering his ears desperately. A breath. Adam gasped, the air around him a quick storm of pain. He let his breath out in a wail of sadness, clamping his pale hands over his ears and buckling forward. A breath. The cannon ball ripped through my middle, bursting in my heart. I heard a screaming and I wondered if it was me. A voice filled my head. It was beyond pain and terror and chaos. It was the sound like the end of the world.
“PETER!” she screamed. And then it was silent.
I gasped, uncovering my ears. I looked up to Adam, bright tears were glittering on his cheeks. I turned to Peter. His hand was pressed against his heart, his head bowed. When he looked up, he was a drowned man. My soul tore along its seams to see the heartbreak on his face.
“Adam,” Peter choked.
“It was Haden,” Adam sobbed. “We're too late.”
Peter jumped up and ran forward. His face was a stone mask of ferociousness. I had only seen it that way once before, when he believed his sister was lost forever. I took Marc's hand, already a step ahead. We couldn't be too late. Peter stopped in front of us.
“Find her,” he said.
“Marc,” Adam whispered.
“FIND HER!” Peter screamed.
The search was easy. The path shot off through the world, seeking out the little trailer. The image filled our minds and it was nothing but fire. I couldn't even feel her heartbeat. We tightened our grasped hands.
“Go,” Peter breathed. And we did.
We could see her when we stopped. She was lying in the grass about fifty feet in front of us. Flawless bronze hair fell to her middle in perfect ringlets. Her skin was too pale, frighteningly pale, but still beautiful. The bridge of her little nose was scattered with freckles, her lips almost white. She had on a yellow nightgown, torn and covered in blood. Her chest struggled to rise and her feet were caked with dirt. Still, she was breathtaking.
There was a little pond beside her, a thin layer of moss floating easily on the mirror surface. The trailer off to the left was a smoldering wreck. The blackened door frame hung on its hinges, a smear of burnt blood lining the knob. Peter lurched forward and I pulled myself after him. As we got closer, her wounds were more defined. Across her throat was a grizzly gash, deep and wide. Her middle, too, was torn. There was no blood around her, she had been dumped here. Her chest expanded again, just barely. Peter fell to his knees beside her, wiping her face with a shaking hand. Unbelievably, her eyelids twitched. She didn't open them, but they moved at his touch.
“Peter?” she choked. It was hardly a sound.
“I'm here, honey,” he crooned in her ear, his voice thick.
“Oh, Peter,” she tried to smile. “I didn't think you'd hear me.” Her voice was low, a little bell.
“It's ok,” he whispered, “I'm here.”
“And Dakota, of course,” she said.
“I'm here,” I whispered.
“Poor, Dakota,” she cried softly. “She'll know it's too late.”
“No,” Peter begged.
I laid my hands against her wounds. They weren't fresh, I couldn't bare to think of how long she had been lying here. The torn muscles fought back together desperately, the emptied veins pumped with difficulty. I couldn't replace the blood because the blood was already gone. The wounds didn't want to close, they argued and rebelled. The skin knit itself closed over the damage, pink scars barely marring the soft skin. But there was something else, something dark and deep within her body. It was like an infection, but it didn't reside in the blood or the muscles. It was black and thick and it had been there too long for me to touch it. It was death.
“The shadows... the... he...” her breath was barely a whisper.
“It's alright now, we're taking you home.” Peter gathered her into his arms like a limp doll.
“Marc,” Haylee whispered. Marc touched a hand to Peter as Haylee and I reached out for him.
“Peter,” the girl breathed. “My heart.” And we were gone.

* * *

Peter staggered ahead of us through the big double doors. A little moan escaped the beautiful girl's pale lips. We pushed in behind him, unsure of what to do. Hector and the twins were already waiting, Bailey and Miya standing from the couch. Adam's face twisted with grief. Anna ran forward, though unable to help. Hector breathed a prayer into the silence. Bailey wrapped a thick arm around Miya's shoulders. The air was thick with hopelessness, it was palpable that nothing could be done. But Peter carried her forward into the hallway with the doors, not pausing for a moment. We all followed silently. He stopped in the hallway, turning his head back and forth.
“Which one is hers?” he asked, his voice low.
“Venus,” Adam answered.
Aphrodite, of course. The goddess of love. The goddess of beauty. It seemed so obvious now, looking down at her perfect angel's face. Peter pushed her door open and balanced her against one knee as he pulled the covers back on her bed. He set her down gently, brushing aside her curls.
“More blankets,” I whispered.
I heard several feet rustle behind me. They were back in a breath, laying the heavy quilts on top of her. Haylee came back a moment later with a heating pad. She plugged it into the wall and slid it beneath the sheets. Peter pulled up the big chair and sat in it, his hand resting lightly against her cheek.
“What can we do now?” Haylee whispered.
“Wait,” I said.
“Can she... will she...” Adam couldn't control his voice.
“I don't know,” I answered honestly. I realized that my face was wet.
“You can't heal her,” Marc said. It wasn't a question.
“She's been dying too long, I can't stop the process.”
“There's no hope?” Anna choked.
“There is always hope.”
Peter hadn't heard any of this. He just laid his cheek against the pillow next to her sweet face. He was whispering in her ear, but the other's couldn't make it out. I could, but I numbed my ears to it. It wasn't meant for me, just for the heart of this dying girl. Peter hummed softly to her, stroking her cheek.
“Her name?” Haylee asked.
“I don't know,” Adam answered. Anna gasped suddenly.
“It was Haden! He'll go after the rest! We have to get to them before he does! We have to go now!” Her eyes were bright with the hunt. My heart was racing, but before I could agree Adam took her hand.
“Where the others are, Haden cannot go,” he said. I raised my eyebrows at him. “Trust me,” he finished. So I did.
We sat on the hard floor of her room for several hours, not speaking. Every so often, Peter would whisper in her ear or brush the curls across the pillow. When my legs fell asleep, I stood and went over to her. I pulled the blankets back a little and laid my hands against her chest. She was a little warmer, and her breathing was steady but shallow. Her heart was still beating weakly, the blood still struggling to fill her veins. But maybe it seemed like improvement. Seeing Peter's dark eyes adoring her, I couldn't convince myself otherwise. So I nodded to him, and he sighed.
“She's going to live,” Peter breathed. “She's going to live.”
When the room grew dark, I fell asleep. It wasn't exactly a real rest, I kept floating out on the air around the house, checking. I had just slipped into a doze again when I heard the rustling of fabric and opened my eyes. The beautiful girl shifted again under the blankets. I listened to the air. Her breathing was even, her heart catching up. She seemed almost warm. She moved again.
“Peter,” I said. He mumbled something. “Peter!” His head snapped up. The girl gasped softly. He leaned forward anxiously, cupping her cheek.
“It's alright, angel. You're safe. It's ok.” Her eyelids twitched. I was aware of the others crowding around the bed behind me, holding their breath. “Can you hear me, darling? Open your eyes. Come home.” Her eyelids twitched at the sound of his voice, the eyelashes fluttering. Then, miraculously, she opened her eyes.
She had been uncommonly beautiful before. But when her eyes drifted opened, it added the final piece to a beauty that was flawless and inhuman. Haylee literally gasped, and I knew that I had never seen any creation so stunning. Her eyes were the richest shade of gold. It wasn't a color that existed on earth, but an equal combination of all things. They were the sunlight wrapping itself around the world, the breath of a thousand flowers, the blinding shine of a million stars. They were unreal, startling, calming, and wonderful. She was perfect. Peter only smiled back, she was the most natural thing in the world to him.
“You had me worried,” he said to her. She lifted her hand to his cheek.
“I'm sorry,” she breathed. He chuckled, but his eyes were serious.
“I think I've been waiting for you for a very long time,” he whispered, almost soundlessly.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I think so.”