Chaper 1: A Quiet Ice-shard (August 24, 2014)[]
A scream. Long silence. Another scream. A longer silence. Fade-out, lights out, black-out. Cold, darkness and rain, is it rain? Or is it snow? Nothing to see, not even a moon to shine in the sky, no stars. That's impossible, so I'm not outside. I'm inside, but from where?
I can't recall a single thing after I came here. I do remember I wanted to come here, yet I don't know why, or where I am. I look around for clues, just to find more pitch-black darkness. I realize the snow that is falling, are just leaks in the ceiling being turned to snow by me, that usually happens when I'm nervous.
A son of Aquilon, that is me: North Van Eis, or just North. I'm 15 years old, at least, I was that age last time I was conscious. I create a piece of ice, to "glow" in the dark. It does the trick with a dim, almost unlit light. I try to find an exit crawling , I can't. I keep looking. Not better results. Panic flows though me, my muscles aching from the cold stress I'm putting in myself unintentionally. Cold rushes over my skin, realizing from touch that my shirt is almost completely tattered. I try to keep calm, but I can't. I stand up just to realize my muscles are not just aching from cold, also from not being used in a long time. How long have I been sleeping? Days? Weeks? Months?
I try not to think about it. Then I wander off thinking about the screams. Why were the people screaming? Were they from torture, death or hopefully schizophrenia? Most importantly: would later on I would be the one to scream? Again, I push the thought away. I hear a door opening and closing, and a loud THUN, even though the door opened, no light came in. I try to smell something that might be helpful, since the ice already melted, and I can't see anything. I smell machine grease and a strong odor of sweat.
Then I realize I hadn't made a sound since I woke up. Then I hear a cough, I'm not alone, the 'THUN' was from a body hitting the ground. "Is anyone -?" I say, my voice falters, and sounds raspy, again, no use of it in a long time. Was I drugged with something? Was I in a coma? I try to concentrate on the important part, to communicate with the stranger. "Is anyone here?" I say, now my voice renewed, but much lower than I remembered. Another cough. "Yes, I'm here" the stranger's voice says. I ask many questions in my mind, but my lips act before my brain does "Where are we? Are you too a demigod?" I say. "We're in the worst place a demigod could be: the Alegion Headquarters. And yes, I'm also a demigod, a child of Hephaestus." the voice says. Perfect. I think. A Greek. Anyway, I can't think of differences right now, I need to escape.
"Alegion"I repeat, the name rings inside my head madly. Then I remember all, whyI came here, what I'm doing here, everything. "Exactly" the stranger says, while lighting up a fire in his hands, revealing a guy with elfish features. "I'm North, North Van Eis. What's your name?" I ask.
"Leo Valdez" he responds. Another scream. "Not again" he murmurs "I bet that that guy, whoever he is didn't stand the drug" he says referring to the person who screamed. "I bet he didn't" I say sadly. "No one has, not even the strongest demigods, I just hope they won't do that to us".
As a response, I hear footsteps outside, and Leo shuts his fire immediately."No one has to know I can do that" he murmurs. "No one". The door opens, now opening a giant stream of light into the room. I squint adjusting to it. A muscular guy about twenty-something years old with maple hair and green eyes enter the room. "Jacob didn't stand the drug, he died" he says laughing "that looser", probably talking to me, even though I don't recognize him. Our theories were correct, one demigod had died from a drug supposed to amplify our demigod skills. I stay stiff, not moving a muscle from my body. "We've made it better, maybe this time the drug will actually work" the maple haired guy says as if I were interested in his news. But then, he says other news, some news that did interest me, quite a lot. He looks at me straight in the eyes.
"C'mon son of Aquilon, you're the next one".
To be Continued...