"Greece," he said through gritted teeth.
"Is that where you got some of these scars?" I asked, looking over the five I could see. They looked like cuts as far as I could tell. Maybe he was a cliff diver and got cut on rocks a lot?
"Some of them, yeah," he laughed. "I'm a bit of a fighter."
"How ironic," I laughed. "You saved the kids instead of jumping into the action."
"Like I said, anyone else would have done it, too."
I was almost done patching him up, trying to listen to what Dimitri was saying to the kids, when the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. Arsenio also seemed to feel whatever had suddenly invaded our presence, his eyes widening as he realized I was tuned into it.
"What—" I started to ask, fear suddenly making me feel sick to my stomach.
A large explosion rocked the room, cutting the question off before it even got the chance to leave my lips.
Chapter Six
A scream tore from my throat as the outer brick wall caved in on us, dust filling the air and choking my lungs.
Arsenio, jumping up from the chair he'd been sitting in, grabbed me and shoved me under the desks lining the inside wall. He'd saved me from the majority of the damage, escaping with only a few cuts himself. The movement had torn his gunshot wound more, though, and blood was freely running down his skin.
Are you okay?" he asked, trying to wave the dust out of his face.
I nodded, gulping down the dirty air as my heart raced faster than a galloping horse.
"Dimitri?" I called out, not able to see the other side of the room.
"We're okay," he yelled back. "Just a little shaken up."
Soft crying from the children wafted through the mess, the only sound in the aftermath.
"Something is wrong," I whispered, mostly to myself. "Why aren't they still attacking?"
"Because it's not who you think it is," Arsenio replied grimly.
Another wave of fear overtook me, making me feel sick to my stomach, filling me with the undeniable urge to run.
"We have to get out of here," I said in a panic. "Right now."
Crawling out from under the desks, pushing aside some scattered bricks in the process, I coughed again, the air slowly clearing.
Across the room, I could see one of the wooden support beams had fallen in the blast, breaking through the wall and resting halfway in the next room. Thankfully, there hadn't been anyone in there. It was full of oxygen tanks, with only the ones that had been hit by the beam appearing to be damaged. There were hissing sounds coming from that area, which probably meant some of them had been busted open.
"Dimitri?" I asked, trying to find where they had taken cover since the beam was lying right where he and the kids had been.
"We're lucky that outside wall was made of brick," his voice said, no sign of the rest of him. "It wouldn't have given us any protection if it had been made of the same materials as the inside of the school."
"Where are you?" I asked hesitantly, turning back to the fallen beam.
The air was clearing quickly, revealing the two injured kids sitting next to the bent up cart of medical supplies.
"Dimitri?"
Getting down on my hands and knees, I started moving bricks away from the edge of the beam, knowing what I was going to find underneath them.
Dimitri's foot came out first and I dug faster, all the way until I hit the beam that had him trapped against the floor.
"I think my leg might be broken," he laughed as I peered over to the other side of the wood.
He was pinned under it, his leg and hip caught. He shook slightly, probably a sign of the shock his body was suffering.
"I'm going to get you out," I said reassuringly and meaning every word of it.
Standing back up, I looked over the mess, not knowing where to try and pick the beam up so he could get out. All the same, I slid my hands under it by his broken leg and strained to lift it just enough for him to wiggle out.
I tugged as hard as I could, but the beam didn't move. Trying again, I could feel the panic growing in me. The strange feeling I'd had right before the explosion was returning, the precursor to something very bad.
"Arsenio!" I called frantically. "Help me!"
Every nerve in my body was on high alert, fear washing over me in repeated waves. Looking back to my original patient, I could see him rummaging through his bag for something, a scared but determined look on his face.
Something told me there wasn't enough time to ask for help again. Even if there was, with his shoulder injury he wouldn't have been much help.
"Hang on, Dimitri," I said, hearing the hysteria in my voice.
"It's okay," he said, his own tone wavering, fear showing through the tough display he was putting on. "Someone will come to help."
"You're right," I said, feeling tears gathering in my eyes. "But I'm not going to stop trying."
Climbing over the beam, I got behind him and grabbed him under the arms.
"This is going to hurt," I apologized.
He nodded and I started pulling him back. He cried out in pain, his free foot pushing against the log as well.
Something metal made a clinking sound next to us, falling through the open wall right behind me.
"What was that?" Dimitri asked.
I looked back, my eyes straining to find the source of the sound.
"Oh my gosh," I said as my eyes landed on it.
I started pulling harder and faster, knowing there were only seconds left.
"What is it?" Dimitri asked, his calm facade finally breaking.
"It's a grenade."
The sobbed whisper broke my lips quickly, my frantic hands still desperately trying to free him. The kids sat next to us, hugging each other as they cried into their shirts. Across the room, Arsenio had pulled a bow and arrow from his bag somehow and was moving out the door, a hunting look contorting his features.
We were all going to die.
The explosion seemed to happen in slow motion, the oxygen tanks busting and adding fuel to the fire. Shrapnel flew in every direction, some of it stabbing me in the back before the force of the blast knocked me forward, back over the beam.
My head cracked against the floor, adding its own fireworks to the display swimming in my vision. All around me, the fire ate at the walls and anything else it could consume.
Slowly, I sat up in the flames, surprised to still be alive, especially with the metal shards lodged in my back. Maybe the others were just as lucky?
Without thinking further, I put my hands on the fiery beam and peered over at the three dead bodies on the other side. My brain couldn't comprehend they were real, burning in front of me, covered in the oxygen tanks that had killed them.
Dazed, I sat back down, leaning against the beam. Something was still wrong, though the feeling of foreboding had left me.
Why was I the only one who survived?
Raising a hand, intending to run it through my hair, I held it in front of my face, having finally found something to shock me back to the present.
I was on fire.
Literally, on fire. My skin, my clothes, my hair, everything. I was a human fire ball.
Another terrified scream ripped from my tender throat and I jumped to my feet, slapping open palms on my arms and legs repeatedly, trying to stop the flames.
As the first initial panic wore off, I slowed down, watching the fire that neither faded nor hurt me. Despite looking like a scene from a horror movie, there was absolutely no pain anywhere on my body, only an intense tingling. In fact, my skin wasn't even burning, remaining the same smooth, tan color it had always been. My clothes looked like I'd just bought them and my brown hair was resistant as well. There wasn't even a massive amount of heat washing over me.
"What is going on?" I said out loud, holding my arms out to look at them once more.
How long was this going to last?
Hungry flames still lapped at the fragile walls, eagerly eating away everything it coul
d around me. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils and I cringed, not wanting to see what was happening to my friend.
Shock wound its way through my veins, my body not ready to move from the scene just yet. It occurred to me I should be looking for a way out, for Arsenio, for something that would put me out, but I couldn't move. Time was still standing still, keeping me in a state that shouldn't have even been possible.
"Well, how unexpected."
I spun around, looking at the figure in the flaming doorway.
Clad in armor I hadn't ever seen except for in movies and paintings of the middle ages, the man exuded pure dominance, standing tall and strong amid the destruction around us. Save the golden helmet on his head, everything he wore was a dark black, swallowing any light around him. Even his eyes were black, soulless orbs, making it impossible to tell if he was even looking at me.
"A demi-Titan. How interesting."
He stepped forward, smoke swirling around him and choking back the flames for a few seconds. Each move he made caused me to be sick with fear for some reason, dropping me to my knees as I dry heaved.
"Who are you?" I coughed out, cowering before him, unable to even look up at his face without needing to retch.
"I think I could ask you the same thing," he said, crouching down in front of me and grabbing my chin.
Terror ripped through me so desperately I began crying, my fingers tearing at his in an attempt to free myself.
"Interesting. The helmet influences your human side very strongly. The Titans aren't bothered by it, not since it's in our control."
He continued to look into my eyes, a grin on his face, before he finally released me and stood up.
"Typhon will be pleased with you, I think. Especially with this impressive display you're putting on."
He motioned to all of me, which was still burning and not burning at the same time.
"What are you talking about?" I whimpered, shrinking away from him.
"Your father," his condescending voice laughing at me.
"My father's dead."
"No."
He chuckled again, swirling smoke between his fingers as his completely blacked out eyes peered at me from under his helmet, or at least I thought they did.
Vomit gathered in the back of my throat until I finally looked away, unable to stare any longer.
"What are you?" I asked, my gaze boring into the destroyed floor.
"I am the better half of what makes up you."
Lurching forward he grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet, shoving me in the direction of the door, ignoring his burning hand.
Another cry of desperation left my lips as I struggled against him, trying to free myself from his unbreakable grasp. It seemed useless, as he pushed me out of the room and down the fiery hall, moving like a bat fleeing from the light.
"Let me go!" I screamed, raising my free hand to slap him.
What happened next surprised us both.
Fire shot from my open palm, scorching him square in the face, his skin instantly burning and crisping under the heat.
An agonizing scream tore from him as he shoved me away, grabbing at his skin as he hunched over.
Just as surprised as he'd been, I fell to the floor and stared at my hand. It couldn't have been possible I just did that! But I had, somehow. Surely, I hadn't hit my head hard enough to cause hallucinations like this?
The man growled as he turned to face me again, his skin cracked and black, veins seeming to be filled with fire themselves.
I shrunk back against the wall as he stared me down, feeling the bile rising in my throat again.
"Erebos!"
The voice rang out loud and fierce from down the hall, another figure joining us in the blazing and smoke filled space. This man didn't carry the same terror striking aura the monster in front of me did, but instinct told me he wasn't to be trifled with either.
The growl the burned—man?—had started addressing to me grew louder as he turned to face his opponent, a long, black sword forming out of the smoke around us. Brandishing it above his head, the monster charged the other man, murder in his every movement.
Down the hall, the challenger pulled his own sword out of a bag on his back, a bright light like lightning biting the blade as he swung it down into an attack stance. As soon as he'd unsheathed the weapon, actual lightning began striking the walls around him, bouncing off the floor and encasing him in a protective, while somewhat terrifying, cage. His own battle cry broke from his mouth as he charged forward to meet my would be captor.
Their blades smashed together, a sound just as loud as the explosion resulting. Each moved quickly, expertly, obviously trying to end the other.
Seeing my chance to flee, I scrambled to get my flaming body off the floor and ran back the way I'd come. Clashing blades rang in my ears as I sped away, through the smoke and fire still clogging the building. Eventually, the battle sounds started to fade, as did the foggy air around me. The empty halls echoed back the sound of my frantic footsteps, the tile floor reflecting my still very much on fire body. Now that I was away from the initial scene of the occurrence and whoever the heck Erebos and his enemy were, panic at my state began to fill me again.
I knew I needed to get out of the building, but I was still hotly flaming on every single piece of my body. Water was what I needed and I knew just where to get it. Turning down a different hall, I made my way to my desired destination.
The locker room was empty, as the rest of the school apparently was. I imagined everyone who wasn't caught in the first explosion had been safely evacuated.
At least, that's what I hoped.
Moving quickly between the rows of lockers, I went to the back of the room, to the showers. As the cold water started to splash down on me, making the fire hiss and go out, I wrapped my arms around my chest and slid down the pink and blue tiles to the floor. Water, mixed with some blood and dust, swirled around and down the drain next to me. There was something silver as well. It took me a moment to realize it had been the shrapnel that had been lodged into my back when the oxygen tanks exploded. I'd been burning so hot it'd melted. Now that I was cooling down, it was washing off my body, some of it solidifying and sticking to my skin.
Dazed, I started picking it off, my hands shaking so ferociously I couldn't hardly accomplish the task. Adrenaline seeped out of me quickly, leaving me in the shocked and frightened state I'd expected to come.
Tears leaked from my eyes, disappearing into the streams running over me and soaking me through. The longer I cried, the faster they came, until loud, gasping sobs filled the room, bouncing back at me from every direction. I couldn't even try to stop them, thinking only of how things had been mere minutes before.
Dimitri had been alive. We'd been working like usual.
I wasn't a monster.
Curling further into a ball, I wrapped my arms around my legs, resting my head on my knees. I didn't know if I should run away or wait for someone to come find me. Wouldn't they want to know how I'd survived when no one else did?
I sat like that in the shower for what felt like an eternity, letting my mind slip away into unconscious thoughts, preferring to block out what had happened for as long as I could rather than deal with it now.
The water continued to rain down around me, showering down on the tile in cold vigor. It bit at me after a while, causing goose bumps and a shiver to overtake me. Still, I didn't get up and leave.
"Hey," a soft voice said suddenly.
I flinched, my head jerking up to see who had invaded my space.
Arsenio was crouched in front of me, apparently untouched by any of the explosions or fire. His bullet wound was still bleeding freely, the bandage I'd been putting on him gone. In his hands were the bow and arrows I'd seen him leaving the room with. Cautious suspicion filled me as I looked at him.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.
It took me a moment, but I finally managed to get out a hesitant nod, the tears I'd man
aged to stop starting to leak through again.
"Okay, good," he said reassuringly. "Let's get you out of here. All right?"
Carefully, he set the weapons down and extended his arms out to me, like he was going to hug me.
"Don't touch it," a cold voice snarled from the lockers.
"Cristos," Arsenio protested, still reaching for me as he looked towards the sound.
"I said don't!" the voice barked back.
Footsteps echoed through the room and its owner appeared in the showers with us.
It was the man with the lightning sword.
I flinched back, pressing myself against the wall as fear started to fill me again.
He had a cut on his cheek and through his shirt on his chest. Other than that, he didn't look like he'd been in any type of fight. His green eyes glared down at me, jaw clenched tightly as if he were looking at the lowest being on Earth.
"It's one of them," he spat out.
"She's the doctor who was stitching me up," Arsenio said, confused, frozen in his reaching state. "How could she be one of them?"
"It's a demi-Titan," the man, Cristos, said bitterly.
"A what?"
Arsenio pulled away from me some, hesitance on his face.
"Is there such a thing?" he asked, looking into my eyes as if the answer were hiding there.
"There is now."
Cristos pulled his bag from his shoulder and I flinched again, expecting him to pull the sword out and run me clean through in his obvious hatred of me. Instead, he pulled a pair of metal handcuffs out, stepping forward and roughly grabbing one of my arms, snapping one side around my wrist. The other quickly followed. He then attached another chain to them, effectively making it possible to drag me wherever he wanted.
"You really think that's necessary?" Arsenio asked in surprise, standing and backing away as he watched.
"Let's go," Cristos said, hauling me to my feet and tugging me after him.
Chapter Seven
"What do you want?" I asked quietly, trying to ignore the shivers rocking my still damp body.
For what seemed like the millionth time, Arsenio looked towards me, his mouth opening hesitantly. A single look from Cristos silenced him, his head turning back to the front, nothing greeting my ears.
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