I’m so getting into this story again :D  Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
~ G.K. Chesterson
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Chapter 21: Arai-ght Already

Shiloh 

I should’ve known that the peace Luke and I had finally been able to enjoy wouldn’t last for long, and it wasn’t either of our faults.  Well, maybe because we’re demigods, but still.  For the next two days, we were able to enjoy the sun and warmth of the Caribbean, going diving at reefs, stocking up on food in Grand Cayman, spending time in Sting Ray City, and just living.  It was on the third day that all Hades broke loose.

“Luke!  What game do you want to play?” I shouted.  He was upstairs, changing into pajamas.  I told him he could either continue sleeping on the couch or share the bed with me.  It’s probably not hard to figure out which one he chose.

“I still have to kick your butt at that Ace Combat 0 game!” he replied.

“That’s not going to happen any time soon, I assure you!”

“I’ll take my chances,” he said in my ear.  His sneakiness caused me to jump.

“Gods Luke, don’t do that!” I chastised, swatting his arm.  He apologized, giving me a cheeky grin and a kiss on the cheek.  I put in the video game and climbed onto the couch.  Luke handed me to controller.  We waited impatiently to begin our battle.  Luke started humming the theme song for the game itself when I felt the hair stand up on my neck and arms.  Something was wrong.

“Do you feel that?” I asked, looking around.

Luke put down his controller. “Yeah.”

The two of us stood up, taking out our swords.  We’d barely taken two steps when the windows shattered and we were swarmed by things that looked like leathery old hags.  Luke and I went back to back, eyeing the intruders.

“Who are you?” I demanded, sounding much braver than I felt.  To be honest, there was something about these monsters that seemed wrong.  There was something even more sinister about them that I’d never encountered with any other monster.

“We are the arai,” one hissed.  I racked my brain for what this monster’s special skill and finally it came to me.

“Curses.  You’re the physical embodiments of curses placed against someone,” I said.

“I think we know who most of these are for then,” Luke muttered. “Not saying I don’t deserve it, but still, this is gonna bite having to fight all of you.”

“Don’t kill them,” I ordered.

“Uh, I beg your pardon?”

“If you kill them, you unleash the actual curse on yourself.  Don’t kill them.”

“But what if they attack us?”

At that moment, an idea popped into my mind. “Distract them.  I have a plan.  But don’t kill them and get outside.  I’ll meet you out there.”

“How are you going to get past them?”

“Like this.” A wave knocked into the yacht, sending the arai flying in different directions.  Luke rolled towards the door that led to the outside of the yacht.  I flung myself towards the stairs that led to the bridge.  Scrambling up before any of the hags could see where I was, I dashed up the stairs.  When I got to the bridge, I hit the first button that formed my plan.  Earlier with Troy the Tiger Shark, I told him to spread the word among his fellow peers (meaning other sharks) that if the lights on the boat flashed red and blue, it meant I needed help.  You’d be surprised just how helpful it is to have an army of sharks on your side.  Second, I hit the button that encased all my storage places in a fireproof casing.  I was going to need it after hitting the third button.  I waited for the full minute for the storage places to be protected before hitting the third button.  The ‘Emergency’ button.
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Luke 

I stumbled outside.  The arai were still in disarray from the rogue wave Shiloh had made hit the boat.  Soon enough though, they got their wits about them and followed me outside.  Most of them at least.  A couple went up the stairs.  They must’ve seen Shiloh go up there.  While worry gnawed at me, I trusted her to get out of the situation.  She was smart.

“Come, son of Hermes, taste what curses people have thrown at you,” one arai encouraged, diving at me.  I jumped out of the way.

“I’d rather not,” I retorted.

“We insist.”

“Yes, we insist.”

“I agree.”

“I second that.”

“I third that.”

A horrible pun popped into my head and before I could stop myself, I blurted, “Arai-ght already!”

They snarled at me even though I was kind of laughing.  Two of them lashed their leathery tails at me but I back-flipped over them.  It was difficult fighting a monster you couldn’t kill.  I wondered if that was how Percy felt when he was trying to kill Kronos at first, when he didn’t know what his-my- weak spot was.

Glass shattering made us all look up.  Shiloh had jumped through the window, rolling onto the small part of her roof and then landing on all fours on the ground.  She ran towards me, sliding past the monsters.

“Luke, we have three minutes!  Jump!” Shiloh commanded.  I started running for the stern when her startled yelp brought me to a screeching halt.  One of the arai had grabbed Shiloh by her leg with their tail.  It dragged my girlfriend towards them.  I didn’t care what curse was going to put upon me.  I just couldn’t let them hurt Shiloh.  I swung my sword at the tail, ignoring my girlfriend’s warning to stop.  I wouldn’t let them have her.  She’d been through enough.  She didn’t deserve to be cursed again.  By anything or anyone.

At first nothing happened to me, and I thought maybe the curse-being-thrust-upon-you was a lie, until I started hiccupping uncontrollably.  My first question was: who in Hades’ name would curse someone to have uncontrollable hiccups for the rest of their life?

“You killed our sister!” one screeched at me.

“You were trying to kill my girlfriend,” I countered.

“Die, demigod!” An arai flew at me, but Shiloh blocked its way, jumping in front of me.  She must’ve stabbed it with her sword because it disappeared in sulfurous powder and Shiloh began to panic.

“Luke!  Luke where are you?!  I can’t- I can’t see!” She cried.  I dropped down beside her.  She clung to me desperately.

“Ah, yes, Ethan Nakamura’s curse.  That was a particularly good one.  Doesn’t bring pain physically, but mentally, oh it’s torture,” an arai commented.  Rage ripped through me.  I didn’t know what was going to happen in three minutes, obviously something not good, but we couldn’t get off the ship.  Not with all the leathery old hags onboard still.  I stood up, brandishing my sword.  I wasn’t fighting anymore because I hated what was in front of me; I was fighting for who was behind me, the girl I’d just gotten back and was determined not to lose again.  I let out a very unintimidating war cry (thanks to it being interrupted by a hiccup) and charged.

I slashed, I jabbed, I jumped, I kicked, I spun, I stabbed, I punched, and I sliced.  Each time I hit an arai.  Each time I felt their curse being placed upon me.  I’d been able to stand upright through all of it until I hit the final one.  The arai’s voice got in my head and said, “The curse of those who perished when the Princess Andromeda blew up.  They wanted you, the immortal, to know what it was like to be burned.”

I felt my insides heating up.  The pain brought me to my knees.  It was agonizing; it blinded me.  I’d overestimated my abilities and now Shiloh and I were going to pay the cost.  She was still calling out for me, but her voice was getting fainter and fainter.  I couldn’t tell if it was because she was getting farther away or if I was slowly dying.
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Shiloh 

I heard the sound of battle and kept my head ducked.  I trusted Luke not to accidentally hit me, but I didn’t trust the arai not to attack me.  I heard screams and shouts but none sounded like my boyfriend’s, not until I heard the final slash.  The sound of a strangled yell and Luke thudding to the ground reached my ears.  I panicked.  I called out his name, hoping he’d respond so I could use his voice to find where he was.  But over the sound of the ocean, the beating of my heart, and the ringing in my head, it was almost impossible.  We didn’t have much time left.  The ship was about to explode any second.  I crawled towards the area where I determined most of the fighting had occurred and when my fingers hit a body, I let out a sigh of relief.

“Luke, come on, get up.  Hurry!  The ship is about to explode!” I urged.  When he didn’t respond, I shook him.  No answer.  Terror crashed over me but I couldn’t let it hinder my thinking.  I grabbed Luke by the arms and began dragging him to where I decided the railings would most likely be.  I secretly was gratified that I could find my way around my ship without my eyes because my back hit the rails.  Knowing I couldn’t lift both myself and Luke over into the ocean at the same time, I dragged his body over the rails first.  His weight dragged me over and we plunged into the ocean.  We’d only gotten about ten feet down when the boat detonated.  The force from the explosion pushed us farther down.  I swam up back to the surface so Luke could breathe.  I still couldn’t see, but I knew my way in the water.

“Miss Shiloh?” a voice asked.

I breathed in relief. “Troy,” I responded mentally. “Thank the gods you’re here.  Where’s the closest land mass?”

“About five hundred miles away.”

“I don’t have the strength to get us there and Luke needs urgent care.  What am I going to do?  What am I going to do…” Panic was replaced by dread and hopelessness.  Luke was dying, I was blind, and I had no way of saving either of him or me.

“Wait here,” Troy said calmly.  I felt the shark leave.  It felt like an eternity before he returned.  He returned with others though; I sensed their presence.

“Miss Carter, my name is Lynn, and my friend is Ingemar.  We are servants of your father sent to bring you back to Atlantis,” a woman said gently. 

Instinct told me I could trust them. “Please, get Luke there first.  He’s dying.  He attacked the arai… all of them…”

A comforting hand was placed on my shoulder. “Let Ingemar take him.  I will lead you.  Come.”

I nodded.  I felt the merman take Luke from me while Lynn took my hand.  However, from the terror over Luke, the despair over losing my eyesight, and the overall adrenaline dying out, I passed out.
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Is Luke going to be okay?  Let’s hope so because seriously, something is always stopping these two from being together.  Review :)