RAID BY GAEA!!!!

Krissie dodged easily. She pointed her baton-like staff at Jeremy and the icy blue flames shot towards him.

Terry stood up with a wide grin. "Yeah, thanks man, you saved m-"

His gray eyes widened behind his glasses as Ace just suddnely closed his fading green eyes. Wait..fading? Terry stood in shock for a moment, unable to register his friend on the ground.

"Ace?!" Terry finally got a hold of himself. He bent down next to him. Never move a fainted person was the rule. It took all of his will to keep himself from shaking Ace. "Ace?!"

"No."
Shade bent down, touching his wrist.
"No...that's not it..."
His pulse was abnormal. And it was slowing. Uneven and slowing down...

I ran over to Ace. "He gonna be okay?" I asked.
(Is ace dieng or is he in a coma or did he pass out?)

"Well, what do we do?" I said, trying not to panic. I mean, I was glad that Terry was alive, but I didn't want Ace to die either!

"Wait, maybe if we could get all the Apollo kids out here," I began.

(I said I would have two accounts. One is Terry. The other is a secret....wait for it all to happen! But sadly, Ace will pay a permanent visit to Hades/Pluto.)

Hey, you! Yeah, I'm talking to you. Come on. It's time to go.

His pulse began to slow very quickly. His breath became short and uneven. But his face was calm and peaceful. His mouth was in a small beginning of a smile. 

Five years old, learning how to master his powers. Growing a rod of earth from the ground he turned around with a small laugh. His grin faded and his green eyes stared blankly. Who was he going to tell? No one. No one was there to watch him.

It was cold, for some reason, but Ace didn't mind. It wasn't that chilly cold. It was a numb cold. Painless. He didn't feel anything...

Ten, Gaea confronted him for the first time. He agreed readily to work for her. He was glad his mother was finally talking to him after being so alone...

Ace could hear their urgent voices calling out his name. He wanted to open his eyes, but he was slipping. The light was fading in this dark room of his. The crack was closing. He tried to keep it pried open.

Thirteen, Ace noticed the new soldiers pouring in. He knew that his mother was rising, and he was satisfied. But it was an empty sense of victory, with no meaning behind it. Why is that?

Ace wanted to break the crack oflight wide open to spill in the light. He did not like the dark anymore. It was empty and lonely there....

Fourteen. Ace fought the first battle. Like many traitors to Gaea he had killed, they always stood back up no matter how many times he slashed them down. Why? And some friend or lover would get angry or scream. And they knew they couldn't win against him, but they charged at him in a fury anyway. Was it really worth it? So Ace had returned to his mother. The first time the question had passed his lips.

Mother, do you love me?

What an awkward and useless question it was! His mother had been furious. He was just a pawn! Just a soldier! Just a spy!

Maybe the camps could tell him what it was like to have friends. Maybe the camps weren't useless. The reason they were so hopeful and determined and.....unified. He wanted to know.

Finally, Ace let go of the crack of light. He watched it close slowly. The shadowy arms wrapping around him and his eyes. They began to cloud away the light... But, he wasn't afraid. He wasn't alone. His friends were still there. It would be fine. The dark wasn't empty. He could watch everyone from there.

Fifteen. He had made his friends. He had gained his name. And he was satisfied.

The earth rose up and let out a mournful wail. It wrapped around him as his body went cold and his pulse stopped.

So, mother, do you love me at all? Hey, do you really love me?

No matter how heartless Gaea could seem, the Earth itself was a part of her that she couldn't control. Ace was ot the son of Gaea. Not the son of the Earth's evil consciousness. He was the son of the Earth in the form of life. The green spring of life. She couldn't have expected him to be evil at all. Never. It was never his nature.

Ah, then I'm glad..But I kind of don't want to die yet....Well, it's fine. Bye.

Ace managed to send one last word past his lips before his pulse completely stopped. "Friends..." Then it was over. He was gone.

[Seriously? Is it that sad?]

Shade jerked his hand back as the ground gave a shaky rumble as if it was letting out a sorrowful moan. Tendrils of dirt wrapped around Ace's still form. Shade blinked and swallowed, unsure of what to say. For life give a life. Shade slowly reached out an arm as Ace's chest stopped rising. No way...but his pulse confirmed it. He was as still as the tendrils of earth wrapped around the dead son of Gaea. He had caught the last word he had said. Friends, he had said. He had saved Terry. He owed him. But he couldn't repay him.

The earthy form of a woman grew out of the ground. She turned towards Terry. Even though her eyes were closed, her voice was full of spite. "You should have died."

Then she raises an arm and the earth around Ace rises and swallows him. It pulls him sinking int the ground and he is gone. "I will be taking him."

She snapped at the rest of the campers. "Retreat slowly. Finish killing whoever you are killing and be quick about it!" It was obvious she was in a bad mood. The ground rumbled angrily and she sank away into the ground.