Chapter Text
One of the few things that Ethan recalls from the battle on mount Olympus is pain.
Something sharp piercing his abdomen. Grass growing around his body. The music played by the freckled satire. Sharp golden eyes glaring at him.
“Treason.”
His eyes shot open.
“He woke up!”
“We need Will!”
His whole body was aching.
Afterlife shouldn’t look like this.
Surely, the afterlife wouldn’t have him lie in a hospital bed.
His ears kept ringing, blocking out all the voices.
There’s no way he should be alive right now.
There’s no way.
Maybe, this was more like the waiting room of the afterlife, that wouldn’t be anywhere near as strange compared to other things he witnessed. The hospital theme also made sense. Yeah, that should’ve been it.
Maybe, if he closes his eye, he’ll appear in front of the judges of Hades.
“Get some ambrosia!”
Probably.
He might make it to Elysium. He tried to stop Kronos, right? In any case, he’ll aim for rebirth. Hopefully, he’ll get a more peaceful life.
“He’s on edge!”
He should just close his eye, and this whole thing will disappear.
Yeah.
He should just sleep.
“I think we’re losing him!”
Ethan felt dizzy.
“Wake up!”
He should just sleep.
“Oh gods, oh gods, please wake up!”
Sleep sounded great.
Ethan was definitely not ready for what he saw next.
There were no ghosts, no fates, no judges. Just black.
He did imagine death as black, but that’s because it’s impossible to imagine nothing. There was no way it was all just like...that. Ethan knew about hades, Elysium, and all about the greek afterlife. He knew it wasn’t like that.
And yet, here he was, in the middle of nowhere. Was he just going to spend infinity like that? Just endless emptiness?
“Remember, what I’m doing is for your own sake.”
Ah. so that was it.
“Why am I here?” he turned to the person in a black cloak - an unusual form for her.
“You know why.”
“I don’t. I really don’t. I should’ve died out there. Why am I here?”
Not a second after the scene shifted, now, he was looking at himself. The not too long ago him to be specific - the him falling to his death from mount Olympus. It took nine days to fall from Olympus to earth - and nine more to fall into Tartarus if he remembered right. He wasn’t too confident where he had read or heard that, but it seemed to be right as he kept looking at himself, falling and falling.
“Can’t just sit there and watch you when I have so much time. Besides, did you really think your little stunt with the knife was the thing that would restore the balance?” she let out a chuckle. How could she chuckle right now? “No no no, there are plans far bigger than you could imagine. You’ll realize soon.”
Ethan did not seem to understand what she was talking about. He was a bit too distracted by the sight of him falling.
“We’re just looking at the past here, wait for a second…” the past Ethan suddenly disappeared into thin air, and the scene shifted again.
Now, he was in the camp half-bloods infirmary. He blinked a few times to assure himself that was it. Last he saw that place was how many years ago? Two? Three?
Past Ethan appeared above one of the beds and dropped down.
“Sadly, even as a goddess, I wouldn’t immediately know what was happening. Some impact has happened.” The past Ethan was looking very messed up. His spine had to be shattered - it was as if he’d fallen from a four-story building. The poisonous knife sticking out of his abdomen was not helping.
“This here -” the time suddenly started speeding up in the place. He saw the sun go down from the window, and a few moments later, his eye blinked open. “-that’s you in the present.”
Ethan watched his unconscious body get surrounded by blondes in white coats- of course.
“You’re in critical condition, but you’ll live.”
His mother was letting him live so he should’ve been happy, but on one hand, if he died, he would not have to answer to everyone and get out of lots of trouble. On the other - He was scared of death. Of course, he was scared of death. Besides that, his mother did say there were bigger plans. Yet…
“How is letting me live just?” That did not seem like his mother's domain at all. That raised even more and more follow-up questions. The goddess, as if reading his mind, gave the smallest smirk.
“And who said I’m your mother, young hero?”
His one eye shot open.