Catch Fire || P. Jackson

𝟏.𝟎𝟕

𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊. 𝐆𝐖𝐄𝐍 opened her eyes. The colour came back to her face. Lea got such a fright that Pranjal had to catch her arm to stop her from tipping backwards.

"Wh-what is it?" She blinked. "What's everyone staring at?" She didn't seem to notice the seven-foot harpoon sticking out through her chest.

Pranjal blinked twice. "There's no way," he whispered. "She was dead. She has to be dead."

Gwen tried to sit up, but couldn't. "There was a river, and a man asking... for a coin? I turned around and the exit door was open. So I just... I just left. I don't understand. What's happened?"

Everyone stared at her in horror. Nobody tried to help. Lea looked like she was about to empty her yoghurt on the ground next to her.

"Gwen." Frank knelt next to her. "Don't try to get up. Just close your eyes for a second, okay?"

"Why? What—"

"Just trust me."

Gwen did what he asked. Frank grabbed the shaft of the pilum below its tip, but his hands were shaking. The wood was slick. One of the medics realized what he was planning.

"Don't!" he said. "You might—"

"What?" Hazel snapped. "Make it worse?"

Lea leant forward, gripping Gwen's torso. At first, she whispered something into Gwen's ear which made her body still completely. "You need to bend down. Pull in a straight line, don't pull up. We don't know how fragile this is." Frank crouched down, lining himself up with the pilum. "That's it. Now, you need to breathe. Pull firmly but gently. If it gets stuck, stop."

"Percy, Hazel—help me."

"Get on Frank's level. Frank, move to the side take hold closest to her chest, and then Hazel. Percy," Lea looked up at the son of Neptune. "You need to stand in front of the point. You're in control of the direction. You have to make sure it's moving straight. You need to move backwards with the pilum so it doesn't catch you."

"Yes, ma'am." Percy hunkered exactly where Lea told him to without breaking eye contact.

Lea let a smile tug at her lips before motioning for Pranjal to steady Gwen's legs. "On your count, Frank."

Frank took a deep breath. "One, two, three!" They pulled the pilum out from the front. Gwen didn't even wince.

The blood stopped quickly. Lea bent down to examine the wound. "It's closing on its own," she said.

Pranjal stared at the wound in awe. "I don't know how, but—"

"I feel fine," Gwen protested. "What's everyone worried about?"

With Frank and Percy's help, she got to her feet. Frank glowered at Octavian, but the centurion's face was a mask of polite concern.

"Gwen," Hazel said gently, "there's no easy way to say this. You were dead. Somehow you came back."

"I... what?" She stumbled against Frank. Her hand pressed against the ragged hole in her armour. "How—how?"

"Good question." Reyna turned to Nico, who was watching grimly from the edge of the crowd. "Is this some power of Pluto?"

Pranjal pulled Lea to her feet, taking the girl's attention away from glaring daggers at Reyna. They exchanged a long glance before they nodded their heads in agreement.

Nico shook his head. "Pluto never lets people return from the dead." He glanced at Hazel as if warning her of something.

A thunderous voice rolled across the field: Death loses its hold. This is only the beginning.