The Daughter Of Night (Original Version)

74- Cai Finds Out

Cai

I stood there in shock for a moment, staring at the place from which Nyx had just vanished. Then my eyes rested on the tree of life.

It stood tall and proud, it's withered old branches and trunk radiating power. I gave it a thorough examination. It was not until I was completely satisfied that it was safe that I gave it one last glance, and turned my back on it, heading in the direction of where I left Will and Nico.

"What did you do?" Will demanded, almost the moment that I came within sight of them.

"I spoke to my grandmother," I said, "then she left. Our quest is complete, the tree is safe."

"Well that was easy," said Nico, earning him a light punch from Will, "well it was wasn't it! All Cai did was speak to her and she went away. You did only speak to her right?"

I nodded.

"Then why do you still look like there's something wrong?" Asked Will.

"Because she just left," I explained, "she's up to something. Just before she left she said something about pawns and clearing them off the chess board."

"That doesn't sound good," said Nico.

"No it doesn't," I said, "we should get back to Camp Halfblood, I want to ensure that everyone is okay."

They both heard the unspoken part of that sentence. I wanted to know that my mother was okay.

The other two quickly gathered their belongings, and I took their hands, and quickly whisked us away to camp.

We arrived in the same place that we had left, just in front of the big house. Chiron was sat on the porch, staring across the camp, which was fairly deserted seeing as how it was still winter.

"Welcome back," Chiron smiled when he spotted the three of us, "I trust that the tree of life is safe?"

"Yes," Will nodded.

"Where is my mother?" I  demanded quickly.

"When you left I believe she returned to Olympus, then I think she went hunting with Artemis." Chiron said calmly.

"I need to see her."

"I'm afraid I don't know where she is, but whatever it is, I am sure it can wait until she returns from her hunt."

"No, it can't. I think she's in danger, it's something that Nyx said, I think she's going to go after my mother."

"Well Ariadne is with Artemis, I am sure she is perfectly safe-" Chiron stopped talking abruptly, staring at something behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at.

"Artemis?" I frowned and cocked my head at the Goddess. She had her normal silvery clothes on, but she looked paler, and her jacket was splattered with red blood. Worst of all, she was holding something in her arms, something with long dark hair.

"Caius," Artemis was breathing heavily, and not meeting my eyes, "I'm sorry, I couldn't save her, I tried- I tried everything!"

"What?" I stared back at her, looking from her face to my mother's body, which was still held in Artemis' arms.

"Ariadne is dead Caius,"  tears began to fall from her face as she struggled to get the words out.

"No," I shook my head, "no. I say she isn't."

"Caius, I'm sorry, she is, I tried, but nothing was working, I-"

"No!" I said again, "I'm the God of Life dammit and I will not let my mother die!" I ran towards Artemis and seized my mother's body from her arms. The moment that I made contact with her I knew that there was no hope, that she was long gone. But this didn't stop me from trying. I held my hands over the gaping wound in her stomach and tried to heal her, I screamed her name, I screamed her name again. It was no use.

I slumped, resting my head on her chest, and held her close to me. Hot tears fell down my cheeks and I didn't try to stop them, because I didn't care anymore. My mother was dead.

Update! 

So Cai Finally found out. I did my best to make his reaction as realistic as possible!

Remember to vote, comment and be amazing!

~Em xx