by Kate O'Hearn
“Melissa, are you all right?” Jake asked.
“It hurts,” Melissa said.
It looked as though something were alive beneath the skin and trying to get out. “We’d better get her to the cave,” Jake said quickly.
Much to his surprise, Joel and Paelen stayed with them and helped clear a path for Melissa to walk. Each step was uncertain and hesitant, and Jake realized that this was what he must have looked like each night when Angie helped him move around in the dark.
The trip was slow, and on two occasions Melissa had to stop to rest. Jake was amazed she could move at all, as her short legs had to bear the weight of all the bulk.
“We’re almost there,” Angie coaxed. “Just a bit farther.”
Melissa’s whining grew more intense as they neared the cave. “It really hurts,” she wept.
“Is it your arm?” Jake asked.
“It’s everywhere.”
It was then Jake realized that Melissa wasn’t getting any better. The ambrosia might have helped with some of the external injuries, but she was looking worse. Her skin was dry and going waxy, and it appeared she was swelling even more.
He realized there must have been an infection starting, that no amount of ambrosia could cure. When they reached the cave and Melissa settled down inside, Jake feared that the Fallen Queen was much sicker than they’d imagined.
Joel and Paelen stayed with Jake and Angie, helping to make Melissa as comfortable as possible. She could no longer sit and had to lie down. Jake inspected her wounded arm and found that it was withering away. There didn’t seem to be anything he could do to save Melissa.
“Would you like some water?” he offered.
“No, thanks,” Melissa whimpered softly. “Just don’t leave me alone.”
Jake stroked her strange, bulbous head. Even that seemed swollen. It was now a dark gray bordering on black and appeared to be drawing into her body. Whatever was happening to her, it was happening fast. “I won’t, I promise. But I do have to go outside the cave for a bit to get more branches for you to lie on. But I won’t go far.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Angie said softly, stroking Melissa’s hand. “You’re not alone.”
Melissa responded with a soft moan.
Jake joined Paelen and Joel outside the cave. They had already gathered a large supply of soft pine boughs.
“She doesn’t look good,” Joel said.
Jake felt this throat constrict. “I think her sister did more damage to her than we knew. It could be an infection.”
“I am sorry,” Paelen said. “I know you care about her.”
“I do,” Jake said. He nodded back toward the Titan camp. “But they don’t. She used up whatever energy she had left to get here. I’m sure they’ll be glad if she dies.”
“Don’t be too hard on them,” Joel said. “We’ve come through something really terrible. All they see is Mimic when they look at her. They can’t imagine that there could be a Mimic unlike the others. To them, they’re all the same.”
“Then they’re stupid,” Jake said. “She’s nothing like the others.”
They worked together to select only the softest boughs and then carried them into the cave. As Paelen and Angie lifted Melissa’s heavy head, Jake and Joel placed the boughs like a pillow beneath it.
“Is that better?” Jake asked.
“Yes,” Melissa said softly. She reached her swollen hand up and took his. “Thank you, Jake; thank you, Nesso; and thank you, Angie. Thank you for being my friends. I—I really love you.…” Her voice trailed away as she lay back and slipped into unconsciousness.
Tears sparkled in Jake’s eyes as he leaned forward and kissed Melissa’s swollen face. “We love you too. Sleep well; we’ll be right here.…” He sniffed, making no attempt to hide his tears.
The four walked outside the cave again. Jake had his arm around Angie as she started to weep.
“I’m sorry,” Joel said. “I don’t think she’s going to make it.”
Jake nodded and wiped his eyes. “We’re not leaving her. Not until…”
Joel nodded. “We’ll bring you some ambrosia and water. We should also let Diana and Chiron know what’s happening.”
Jake was too emotional to speak. Instead he nodded as he and Angie returned to the cave to stay with Melissa until she died.
18
TRUE TO THEIR WORD, JOEL and paelen returned several times during the day with ambrosia and water. When the sun started to set, they had to go back to their camp but promised to return in the morning.
Melissa hadn’t moved a muscle and looked like she was barely breathing. The swelling was worsening as her features became unrecognizable. Her stubby legs were soon sucked up into the swelling.
Jake knew it wouldn’t be long, but he said nothing to Angie.
“At leassst ssshe’sss not in pain anymore,” Nesso hissed.
“True,” Jake agreed as tears streamed down his cheeks. He sniffed. “I just wish she could have had some happiness in her life.”
“Ssshe did,” Nesso said. “Ssshe had usss, and didn’t die alone in that cage.”
Angie and Jake sat side by side, leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the cave. When the light was gone, Jake was back to being completely blind. He considered trying to make a campfire but decided against it. He didn’t want to watch the end of the Fallen Queen.
After a while, they curled up on the floor of the cave and slept. Just like on the boat, the nights were longer than their body clocks, so they awoke several times.
Each time, Jake asked if Melissa was still breathing. Each time Angie said yes, but she was still swelling and was now unrecognizable. When the light of dawn finally started to creep into the cave, Jake woke to the sound of weeping. He didn’t need to ask to know that Melissa was gone.
Jake sat in silence, grieving Melissa’s death. He couldn’t help but be resentful that the Titans hadn’t tried to help her more. Maybe they could have saved her. Or at least made her feel welcome so that when the end came, she knew she was cared for.
Instead it was just him, Nesso, and Angie.
“Has she melted like all the other Mimics?” Jake finally asked.
“No,” Nesso hissed softly. “Ssshe’sss like a big boulder with no projectionsss. Her armsss and legsss are gone.”
Jake wasn’t sure what to say.
Angie finally said, “Jake, she knew how much you cared for her. I’m sure that meant a lot.”
As the dawn broke brighter in the sky, Jake could make out the lump that was Melissa. Nesso was right, she had changed completely. In death, she was just a shapeless dark hulk. He got up and touched her to see if there was a chance she might be alive. But Melissa’s remains were hard and cold like a rock.
When the light was higher, Joel and Paelen returned.
“She’s gone,” Jake said softly.
“Whoa, what happened to her?” Joel asked.
Jake shrugged. “We expected her to melt like the other Mimics; instead she just turned to stone.”
“I am sorry,” Paelen said softly.
Jake nodded. “As Nesso said, at least she’s not in pain anymore.”
Angie was standing next to Melissa. “Do you think we should bury her?”
Jake shook his head. “No, let’s let her rest in peace here. We’ll cover her up with branches and leave her. The others don’t know where this cave is, so she’ll be left alone.”
They worked in silence to cover Melissa. Before leaving the cave, Jake patted the Fallen Queen’s remains. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t save you. But at least you were free at the end.”
Angie started to weep again. “Good-bye, Melissa.…”
Jake put his arm around her as they walked out of the cave. They made their way back to the Titan camp. Guards with spears were posted around it and nodded at them when they returned.
Jake didn’t return the nod. He was still too angry.
“I’m going to check on the snakes,” An
gie said.
“I’ll come with you,” Jake offered.
They headed over to the cave where the nest had been made for the snakes. As they neared it, Diana and Steve approached.
“How is she?” Steve asked.
Jake felt his anger rise again. “You’ll all be relieved to know she’s dead.”
“I am sorry,” Diana said.
“No, you’re not,” Jake spat. “You’re happy. I’ve only come back here for them.” He pointed at the snakes that were slithering out of the cave to greet them. “If I could be anywhere else, believe me, I would be!” Without waiting for their response, he stormed into the cave.
Jake and Angie sat down in the nest as all the snakes gathered around them, hissing excitedly.
“Try not to be too angry with them,” Nesso said softly. “They didn’t know her the way we did.”
“They didn’t even try,” Jake said. “I know they brought her here for me, and I’m grateful for that. But why go through all of that and then treat her like they did?”
“I do not know,” Nesso said. “But often I don’t underssstand a lot of what you big thingsss do.”
Jake chuckled softly. Nesso still insisted on calling him and all the others “big things.” “I don’t understand them either,” he said.
“Me neither,” Angie agreed.
They sat together playing with the snakes. After a time, Jake reached for the venom jar and noticed that at least half the venom had been used to coat weapons. It seemed the Titans hadn’t believed him when he’d said Melissa was safe, but they did believe his claims that the snake venom would kill Mimics. Somehow, their picking and choosing what they believed from him made him even angrier.
Once all the snakes were fed, he and Angie gathered more venom.
They spent the better part of the morning in the cave. Others came and went, but Jake refused to speak with them. Eventually, he and Angie got up to stretch and go for a walk. It didn’t surprise them when all the snakes followed.
“Seems like they’re bored too,” Jake commented.
“They like you and Angie,” Nesso said. “They want to ssstay with you.”
Activity around them was high. Everyone was busy. Some gathered large branches and put them in a pile. Others were peeling off the smaller branches and leaves and shaping the shafts into spears. A final group used jagged rocks to sharpen the ends.
When Jake saw Joel and Paelen with a bunch of spears, he approached them. “What’s going on?”
Joel said, “Scouts have returned. Last night they went into the city you told us about to look for Emily and Riza.” His head dropped. “They didn’t find them. But they did rescue Vulcan and Pluto.”
“They’re here?” Jake cried.
“Yes,” Paelen answered. “They are in the other cave sleeping. They have been treated badly and have not been fed. They are both very weak.”
Joel looked up. “More scouts are going out at dark to continue the search.”
Paelen added, “We have all decided it is time we fought back. We cannot wait for Jupiter and the others to rescue us. Diana, Apollo, and Chiron are hoping to find the queen and stop her from spawning again.”
Despite his anger, Jake was relieved to hear this, that the prisoners were doing something instead of just waiting around. “Have there been any signs of Mimics tracking us?”
“Not yet,” Paelen answered. “Perhaps they do not care.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Joel said.
Paelen grinned. “No, but I thought I would say it anyway.”
Joel gave him a friendly shove.
“What can we do to help?” Angie asked.
Paelen shrugged. “You have to ask Chiron. He is organizing tasks.”
Jake shook his head. “No, thanks. I’d rather not talk to any of them right now. Maybe we could help you.”
“Sure,” Joel said. “But, Jake, you’re going to have to get over your anger. This is a small camp and we need to work together.”
“Yeah, well, Melissa was on our side, and look how they treated her. If I wasn’t useful to them, I’m sure they’d do the same to me.”
“I didn’t say they were always right. But we do have to help each other,” Joel said. “So how about you two helping us gather more spears.”
They spent the day working closely together. Going into the forest, Paelen and Angie climbed trees and used their Titan strength to pull off straight branches that could be turned into spears.
Jake and Joel remained on the ground and sorted what Angie and Paelen tossed down.
While they worked, Jake and Joel talked about their lives before and after they got involved with the Titans and Olympians. Jake marveled at all the stories Joel told, but the one he liked best was how Joel had first met Emily in New York City, when Pegasus had crashed on her apartment roof and broken his wing.
Joel paused, leaning against a branch. “I was sitting on my brownstone steps and was so close to telling Emily to get lost. I mean, she came to me with this crazy story of how Pegasus had been hurt and how she knew I liked him because of the doodles I drew on my schoolbooks.…”
“But you went with her anyway to help him?”
Joel shrugged. “I figured, why not? There was a blackout in New York, and nothing was happening. I hated my foster family anyway, so I went with her. I’ve never looked back and never regretted a single thing.”
“Don’t you want to go back to Earth?” Jake asked.
Joel shook his head. “No way. My life is with Emily, Paelen, and the others. There’s nothing for me back there.”
Jake thought of how much his life had changed. A big part of him wanted to go home to see his family. But another part didn’t want to leave. Yes, he loved his family more than anything. But could he be happy back in Los Angles, just riding his skateboard after everything he’d been through and all the places he’d seen? He just didn’t know.
“It’s addicting,” Joel said lightly.
“What is?”
“Life with the Olympians. There’s just something special about them. I couldn’t leave even if Emily hadn’t turned into a Xan and was still an ordinary girl.”
“I know what you mean,” Jake agreed. “Astraea and Zephyr are really special. Tryn, too.”
“I like Tryn a lot,” Joel said. “And his sister, Triana, is crazy.”
Jake grinned. “Yes, she is. I really like her.”
“Oh really…,” Joel teased. “You and Triana?”
Jake felt his cheeks going hot. “I mean…”
“I know, she’s cute,” Joel said.
As the long day passed, they carried their loads back into camp to be added to the pile that was being turned into spears.
Chiron approached them and said to Jake, “Diana told me what happened. I am sorry to hear about Melissa. Diana says you are very angry at us.”
Jake turned away. “It’s better if I don’t say anything. Excuse me, I have to go.” He started to walk away, but Chiron trotted after him.
“Jake, wait, please.” Chiron caught him by the arm. The grip was firm but not painful. But it was enough to let him know that the centaur wasn’t about to let go. “We cannot allow anger to fester, especially considering the danger we are all in.”
Jake turned to him. “I know you’ve all been through a rotten time. I get that. But you didn’t have to take it out on Melissa. None of this was her fault. She was just a child, and she was hurt—by her own kind! All I asked for was a bit of help. But you all wanted her to die. Well, you got your wish. She’s dead!”
“And that is unfortunate,” Chiron said. “But perhaps for the best.”
Hearing that, Jake tried to wrench his arm free. But Chiron held him tightly. “Listen to me, Jake. Melissa was a queen. Yes, in her world, a Fallen Queen, but she was still a Mimic queen. We cannot know what she would have grown into. There are some creatures, even on Earth, that are sweet and friendly when they are young. But when they grow up, that c
hanges. They can become deadly. Can you be absolutely certain that Melissa wouldn’t have been the same?”
“Yes!” Jake insisted. “Melissa could have hurt me or Angie anytime, but she didn’t want to. She didn’t even want to eat those flattened animals when she hatched. She went into that fight starving. Even if she had eaten, she still wouldn’t have fought. It went against everything she believed.”
Chiron considered for a moment. “After everything we have been through, it is difficult to conceive of a peaceful Mimic.”
“That’s because you never gave her a chance. Believe me, she was peaceful. A lot more peaceful than me!”
Chiron nodded. “Then we might have made a grave mistake.”
“Duh!” Jake said angrily. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
The centaur still refused to release him. “Jake, you are suffering, and I am truly sorry that we contributed to that. But we need you. You have done so much for us already, but I must ask more of you. You have greater insight into these Mimics than we do—even though we slaved for them for so long.”
“What do you expect me to do?”
“You can put aside your anger and help us defeat them before the new queens leave this world to start their own colonies. Will you do that, Jake? Will you help us?”
Jake looked over at Joel and Paelen, who had been watching but turned away quickly when he caught them. Then he looked at Angie and the snakes. Even if the others didn’t need him, Angie and the snakes did. Angie was so much like Molly; he couldn’t turn his back on her.
Finally he looked back at Chiron. “All right. I’ll help all I can. But I won’t forget what happened with Melissa, and don’t expect me to forgive. That’s asking way too much.”
“I understand,” Chiron said. “Now, will you please come back to camp and tell me everything you know about these Mimics and their Shadow Titan controllers?”
Jake looked over to Angie, who was nodding. He was still just as angry, but Chiron was right. They were in a war. He couldn’t afford to stay angry and bitter. Finally he said, “Yes, I’ll tell you all I know about the Mimics.”