Jackson's POV

Running my hands through the sand I crouch down by the patient ferry. Picking it up and letting it slide through my fingers repeatedly until I overhear Nimue speaking to Arthur, "Are you sure you're able to go?" She worryingly brings his injuries to attention.

"I'm barely hurt, honestly. I look way worse than how I feel" He laughs at her, boarding ahead of us to greet Charon.

"C'mon Jackson, they'll be here soon" Nimue encourages me to join them as she walks up the momentarily placed board. "I don't think we ever got to meet before, you're Charon, right?" She extends her arm to the dark cloaked man. Waiting patiently as she examines the movement under his robes followed by an overlengthened arm placing itself on top of her open hand.

The sight making me feel uneased of course but I can't help but feel an odd comfort when walking up to him myself. "Hi" I simply state, looking back at Nimue's thumbs up to confirm my actions before she sits down beside Arthur. The same process occurring as his arm lifts, placing itself on my hand with a small grunt releasing from him.

Curiosity getting the best of me as I lean into his grasp, looking into his shadow filled robe to spot his small glowing eyes. "I've always wanted to do that", Percy's hand lands on my back and ultimately jump scaring me away from Charon. Rolling back onto the lower deck and bumping into Gabriela's stunned look.

"Maybe...I shouldn't of done that" He sympathetically looks towards me while Gabriela picks me up with a small grin creeping its way on her face. "You good?" He sits in front of me, pulling me in to sit next to him.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it" Taking a moment to examine my body I notice the lack of pain, admittingly not having to complain about we look back to the beach. Charon's chiming bell ringing throughout my ears as Adam and Athena board with overshadowed footsteps.

"Are we all ready then?" She announces over Arthur and Nimue's chat. Nodding to her she signals for Charon to begin the journey.

Everyone takes their seats and steadily wait for the sudden movement, "I've got you, no worries" Percy grabs onto me after noticing my body flailing a bit too much as we depart from the land.

"This isn't going to be like this the entire way there, is it?" I question, not wanting to feel that sharp motion again in my stomach.

"I've not been here in a very long time to say the least, hard to say." He lingers on, probably noticing my frown he chokes a little bit and continues on, "But who's to say! Honestly it's in the name, the waters are so peaceful cause this is the place where everything meets to rest I guess." He finishes with a calmed look, staring towards me with a smile. "Anyway, what about you. Let's get to actually know you"

Watching heads turn towards our sudden conversation topic I feel myself heat up under the pressure, "I-don't..."

"If you don't remember then how about what do you remember? You said you made your way to the village right? What happened before then I guess" Athena encourages

"Irene. She woke me up in a mountain of snow"

My words already making them confused as Adam goes on to speak, "Snow? I don't know of an area anywhere near here that could possibly have that weather"

"I don't know, I really don't. Irene said it felt cold and weird but I couldn't feel anything at all."

"And who's this Irene?" Nimue follows up.

"She remembers me, and I remember her name. She's the one that essentially lead me and Keyon to you all" Watching their eyes fill with more confusion I begin to describe her, "Uhh...she has white hair. Oh! She's also a bit taller than me."

"So Yue actually did see someone in the room with us?" She questions to herself

"She's always with us, she spoke with Chris too!" I try to make myself sound like anything but a maniac.

"Where is she now Jackson?" Athena looks around a bit alongside me, feeling a pit in my stomach as I don't see her on the boat with us.

Lowering my head a bit, "I-don't know. I'm sorry." Realising my description didn't help at all.

"White hair huh" Percy sounds out loud as if trying to remember something. I watch as Nimue's gaze becomes fixated on something behind me, possibly the waves. Turning my attention to them I lean over the boat in fascination, the glowing green hue with smoky white faces occasionally appearing within the waves.

"Don't go leaping over, can you even swim?" Adam places his hand on my head to lower me from climbing over the side.

"Aren't you scared of this water Adam?" Athena cuts in, copying my previous action and giving him a devilish smirk.

"Why would you say that?" He defensively states.

"I know what it's like to be here for the first time, surrounded by something you considered to be the very foundation of your life but left out to hang." She waves her hand out to the water, raising a bit and flowing it around her.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"What do you mean?"

"When we use our gifts they come with their own voice whether it be fire, the mind, emotion or anything at all, we listen to it. Speaking back and giving it commands even if we don't consciously do it. The water here's rather...alive? It thinks for itself, it doesn't need a command in order to continue flowing and it certainly won't obey just anyone. Try and manipulate it Adam." She explains as he reaches his hand just above it.

Closing his eyes he makes a visible frown of annoyance, "I...can't hear anything" He continues trying to force it, tensing his hand until veins begin to show.

"That's enough" She tries to get him to stop with a light shake but he keeps going. A sudden thin slice of water coming in contact with his hand, drawing blood and forcing him back. "I did say to stop, didn't I?" She humours his sour face, refusing to look back at her.

"So how come you can do it?"

"I guess it just recognises me as the Queen now, or maybe since the beginning I've always just been deaf to its calling." She returns the water back to the river, her face brightening up with an idea as she looks towards Percy.

"Hey aren't you meant to be from our Pack considering what Chris told me? We've never seen you heal and Fenrir was what allowed you to influence the fire of someone else, right?" She grips his hand from the bench, lifting him up to the side of the boat.

Scratching his head he gets lost in a deep thought momentarily, "I never thought about it like that. But I guess you're right, I was raised only within the walls of Daybreak so I only played around with those with the same gifts as I was meant to have." Leaning his hand over like Adam he listens with his eyes closed.

"-liberate" Nimue's voice comes from behind us, appearing as if taking the words from Percy's mouth. His confused expression being lead off into asking her, "Where'd you hear that?"

"What?" She puts her hands up in defence

"Nimue are you alright?" Arthur tries to put his hand along her arm but she flinches back with it.

Shyly backing away, "Why wouldn't I be? We're almost there right?" She points to the eerily greyed out forest.

"What!?" Athena exclaims, slamming her hands against the boat in rage.

"That's it...right?" I ask, not understanding her anger.

"It's not supposed to look like that!" She jumps off and onto the island as Charon pulls it closer.

"Athena wait up!" Percy calls out, following her alongside Adam.

Noticing we were being left behind we make our way off the boat with Gabriela first, Arthur, Nimue and then me. Feeling indebted a bit I thank Charon with a wave, parting ways with him as he continues the ferry onward.

Athena's stomps along the marsh island becoming more faded the further in she gets, briefly staring at the purple running river that divides the place into two. My vision of Percy and the others darkening out the deeper their figures go into it, gradually leaving me behind as I struggle to lift my foot through the land.

Not wanting to seem helpless I struggle silently, pulling and tugging at my feet. "Honestly, what would you do without me?" A pair of hands reach down to my leg, taking it out and nearly making me fall back but Irene catches my arm, pulling me back to stability.

"I-" She places a finger to my lips to silence me with a hush. Pulling me along but not the same path that the others took. "Where are you tak-"

"Shhhh you're spoiling it" She hushes me again, running through decaying trees swerving left and right continuously until I feel my grasp on her become lighter.

Blinking I look ahead to notice she's gone again, "Irene?" I make my way into an opening, the last remaining colours of the forest all collected here as if fighting for their last moments. A small twinkling sound bringing my attention towards the centre, a fruit that's split open and releasing small sparks from its countless seeds.

"Isn't it pretty?" She kneels down to the fruit, cupping it in both hands and placing it on her lap.

Joining her I crouch down into a sitting position, "It is" I respond. Her hands raising the sparks to be in front of her face, reforming them into smoke. Circling and spiralling into a pearl white sun, bursting back into smoke it reforms again. Making up a figure of a human, pointing its hand outward it makes another. They look towards each other, oddly identical but with minor differences. Bursting again but this time while one flows back into the sun, the other flows into the moon.

The sound of small sniffles focusing me back towards Irene, her held back tears falling onto the smoke and dissipating them. Reaching my hand over to her I wipe her tears away, as much as I want to ask what's wrong. Something tells me I already know. "Go back to them, I'll still be here" She slides her hand off my chest, pointing in the direction I'm assuming they're in. Nodding to her I get up to leave, walking away and turning a bit back to find the fruit dried up and empty of its seeds.

-

Shifting myself through the leftover sticks from the bushes I overhear Athena's disappointed sigh. "Of course" She squats down by the water, enticing us to join her and watch as bubbles begin to surface. A skull twisting its way to the surface, impossibly enough with a smile whipped across its face. She puts her hand just above the skull, swirling the water around it until cracks form along the skull.

Eventually bursting it into dust that take the figure of a woman, "Just couldn't go out without a fight, could you?" Athena calls out to it, folding her arms up with a familiarity. Ignoring her entirely it looks towards Percy, twisting and flowing around him before planting a kiss on his head.

"I did my part" She whispers out before separating into the air.

"And what exactly was that?" Nimue questions.

"One of the previous Queens, Chris' mother. In a fit trying to save me he tossed her skeleton into this water...leading to this." She spreads her arms out towards the terribly aged island, flopping them back down in disappointment.

None of us really knowing what to say, Percy luckily breaks the tension. "Its fine, we got lucky being able to repair it this way the first time. Let's just go see where Gabriela wants to go." He encourages her, pointing at arched portal to the side of us.

"Is it far by the way?" Arthur tries to communicate with Gabriela. Her response like an act of charades as she visibly thinks harder than usual but ultimately puts a finger up.

"A day?" I try to guess, making her nod her head but she puts her hand out flat as if to signify it could be a bit more.

"Lets get moving then I guess" Adam confirms, holding Percy's hand and stepping through the portal first. Followed by Arthur guiding Gabriela through.

"C'mon" Nimue gestures to me, waiting to fully enter before I walk past her. Her gaze looking just behind me however, following something like a leaf in the wind.

"You good?" I tap her, bringing her back to reality a she reaches just behind my head.

"Yeah, you just had some dried vines in your hair! Couldn't you feel it?" She laughs, picking it off and dropping them into the contaminated water. "Let's join the rest of them" She strides off with a smile.