I feel like I'm drowning in ice water
My lips have turned a shade of blue
I'm frozen with this fear
That you may disappear
Before I've given you the truth
I bleed my heart out on this paper for you
So you can see what I can't say
I'm dying here (I'm dying here)
'Cause I can't say what I want to
I bleed my heart out just for you
I've always dreamed about this moment
And now it's here and I've turned to stone
I stand here petrified
As I look you in your eyes
My head is ready to explode
I bleed my heart out on this paper for you
So you can see what I can't say
I'm dying here (I'm dying here)
'Cause I can't say what I want to
I bleed my heart out just for you
And it's all here in
Black and white and red
For all the times
Those words were never said
I bleed my heart out on this paper for you
So you can see what I can't say
I'm dying here (I'm dying here)
'Cause I can't say what I want to
I bleed my heart out just for you
I bleed my heart out just for you
I bopped my head to the beat as I listened to the music, completely lost to the lyrics. For some reason, this song always calms me down, but I don't know why. In can faintly hear my own foot tapping on the concrete floor; keeping in timing with the song. My eyes were staring at my table instead of the board.
"Joshua Hale?" Our History teacher, Mrs. Laige, called. "If you would be so kind as to remove those infernal devices from your ears, I would be so happy."
Sighing, I plucked my beats out of my ears. How I even heard her voice, I didn't know. "There. Happy?" I said mockingly. The other students laughed at my antics, while Ms. Laige just glared daggers at me, but I didn't care. At least, not anymore. Some of the guys kept glaring daggers at me. I still can't believe that most of them has a crush on our teacher! But with her golden-brown hair, stunning blue eyes, tan skin like a supermodel's, and busty figure, I guess it's not that weird. But still, she's probably in her thirties by now.
"Please refrain from using anymore gadgets until class is over. That goes for all of you." She said while looking at everyone in the class. "Now, Let us return to our discussion – Mr. Hale!" She turned around swiftly, her teacher's uniform making squeaking sounds as her quick movements caused the tight garments to stretch.
She hastily yanked the earphones out of my ears by the cord. "Are you messing with me, Mr. Hale? Because I am not joking! I did not come to this facility to babysit snobby rich boys who can't even give a moment of their time to listen to their teachers!" she said, my earphones dangling from her hands. Gods, I hope that she didn't break it. But then, if she did…I smiled to myself for the first time that day.
She rubbed her forehead with one hand, the other on her waist. Standing directly in front of my seat, she pointed at the door. "I would send you to the Principal's office, but even the Principal is starting to get tired of you." Surprisingly, she put my beats on my table. "So please try to listen."
I didn't know what to say, but before I could even think about opening my mouth, she put a hang gingerly on my shoulder. "Look, I know about your…particular talents, and I know that you think that school is only a waste of your time, and that it's only the third day, but at least try to learn something, okay?" I couldn't help but groan at her words. It's true, school started only two days ago, but Ms. Laige has been teaching me since Middle School. It's like she practically knows me inside out. Plus, it's creepy that how no matter where I transfer, she's always there, ready to teach.
It's the last subject before I can get out of this dump, anyway. Might as well. I thought as she walked back to the front of the class, like nothing happened. Weird, I thought, but didn't dwell on it. "Alright class. Today we'll discuss the Sixth Age: the Age of Unity." She said, writing the last words on the board. "Can anybody tell me about it?"
Lianna, a girl with blonde hair and gray eyes, raised her hand beside me. Ms. Laige smiled a bit. "Ms. Parks?"
"The Age of Unity started three years ago, due to the unification of the mortal world, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans." She said without stopping. "With it was a treaty formed by the Twelve Olympians, The House of Life, and the United Nations after the Interpantheon War." She added.
"Very good Ms. Parks. You may sit down." Ms. Laige said. Smiling, Lianna mouthed total guess to me as she sat down. I expected as such from a daughter of Athena, but remained stoic in my seat, and didn't return her smile. "The Age of Unity is a term used for the time after September 21, 2009. As you all know, "mortals"-" she made air quotes with her fingers, which caused half the class to laugh. "-were oblivious to the mythological world for millennia, and have lived in ignorance of the monsters, gods, and heroes that lived among them. Moreover, they were unknowledgeable of the cult of magicians that secretly lived underground, right underneath their noses. But that all changed-"
"During the war. " I whispered all of a sudden. The room seemed to grow colder, and the sky darkened.
"Correct." Ms. Laige gave me a concerned look. "Due to reasons unknown, the mystical veil called the Mist suddenly disappeared, and monsters rampaged all over the country. Millions of innocent lives were killed." I thought I saw a tear trailing down her cheek. "A united front was set up, and consisted of the Army, Navy, Marines, and even former terrorists against this new threat. But even then, it wasn't enough."
The class brought their heads down in dismay as they remembered all too well what happened during that time. Nearly everyone inside the classroom lost at least one of their loved ones during that time. For me, though, what I remembered was different. The ghost of her last smile, etched upon her face as she lay dying on my arms…
Ms. Laige continued, snapping me out of my thoughts. "As you all know, America was in turmoil at that time. It was so chaotic that the President himself ordered a nuclear attack…right on his own country, just to stop the chaos." A few of us nodded, remembering that particularly nasty incident.
"Just as the missiles were about to be launched, The Greek gods, primarily Zeus, Athena, and Hades, suddenly came to the UN, offering their assistance. The world leaders were reluctant at first, but without any other choice, they all accepted. Greeks and Romans fought together with the Military in countless battles, the most important being…?" she stopped, asking us for the answer.
"The Battle of Washington." We chorused.
"That was awesome. "One guy said.
"I know. If I didn't know that it was real, I would've thought it was just a really good movie." Another guy commented.
"Yeah. It's like watching 300 together with some awesome Roman movies, then mixing in some cool WWII scenes-"
"Alright, enough!" I shouted. I know that it's rude, and I'd probably be getting a beating later, since these were two of the Donovan academy's biggest bullies, literally, but I couldn't, wouldn't let them talk about the war like that. They stood up, and so did I. "It's not some sick movie that you can just watch, you bastards! People, good people, died during that battle! If only they knew that they'd be sacrificing their lives for you ungrateful, little-"
"Josh, stop!" Rose, one my closest friends, cut me off. She hastily jumped off her seat and attempted to pull me away from the two.
"I could take them." I growled at her, eyeing them carefully.
"No, you can't." she whispered to me. I took a moment to look at he, and my anger slimmed down a bit when I saw her puppy-dog eyes staring up at me. "Please sit down, everybody's watching."
I pursed my lips. What would I do? Ignore my best friend, and beat those two up? Luckily, I chose the better one: I listened to Rose. I took a deep breath, and sighed, taking a seat. Rose closed her eyes and sighed, obviously relieved.
"You three, Principal's office, now!" Ms. Laige shouted. Oops, totally forgot about her.
Nonchalantly, I stood up, and walked out the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jace Millon, a guy with beefy arms, said. He slammed the door shut, and stood in front of it. Alexander "Alex" Viktor, his partner-in-crime, laughed, and pushed me backwards.
"Boys, no fighting in class-" Ms. Laige started to say, but Alex cut her off.
"We. Don't. Care."
I looked back, and saw Rose pleading with me through her eyes, like she was saying please don't kill yourself.
I wanted to laugh. I wanted to tell her that I'll be fine, and that it's these two that she should be worried about. But then again, she doesn't know what I really am. And so does these two walking punching bags in front of me. Casually, I took up a fighting stance, putting my left hand behind my back and motioning the universal come get me sign with my other hand.
The entire class fumbled to get themselves out of harm's way. I mean, sure, a fight between a 16-year old and two 18-year olds may seem cool and all, but not if you get in between them. Ms. Laige looked in surprise at the three of us, and I knew that even if I lived through this, I'd be dead for destroying her classroom and interrupting her discussion then.
The two took a step, trying to frighten me. I only looked at them in response. If those two think that they could frighten me, then they'd better rethink their plan.
Behind my back, I formed my fingers into a sort of finger gun position, only with my thumb parallel to the ground. I noticed through the corner of my eye some of the other students watching me with confused looks, pointing to my hand. Ms. Laige, on the other hand, looked at me with absolute horror. I saw Rose, desperately trying to get to me, but being held back by Lianna.
I waited for the two to charge. It's as if time slowed down, and I could feel each and every one, anxious, and like me, waiting.
The moment they took another step, all Hades broke loose.
"Heqat!"
My staff formed in a column of flames around my hand. As I felt the familiar wooden rod materialize, I couldn't help but grin at my friends, stunned, amazed, or in Rose and Lianna's case, incredulous looks.
I smacked Jace in the face with the head of my staff, a carving of a falcon, and slammed the butt of the staff down on Alex's foot. Jace staggered back, clutching his broken nose, while Viktor jumped back on one foot, clutching his other foot with both hands.
I took their moment of pain to land a punch to Jace's gut, which sent him sprawling to the floor, writhing in pain. Viktor, slightly smarter, backed off. "Don't-don't come any closer, or else…" he tried to threaten me, but it seemed more like a plea.
I didn't answer. Instead, I walked towards the door, and out of the room.
~Dreams Unfulfilled~
That night, I got a call. I was sitting on my desk, playing League of Legends on my laptop when suddenly, the phone beside me rang.
The moment I answered the phone, Rose's angry voice blared through speaker. "What in the name of all things good just happened to you?"
"I have no idea." I said.
"What do you mean you have no idea? I just saw you summon a stick with fire, and beat up two of the most ruthless I ever knew, and without even breaking a sweat! On top of that, you just, just, left without even a proper explanation! So now mister, what's happening to you? I want you…no. I need you to tell me." I could hear her pained voice through the phone.
"Nothing's happening to me." I replied in a monotone voice. "Everything's fine."
"Don't everything's fine my ass! Look Josh, I know you. And you know that I'll know whatever happened this afternoon in some way sooner or later. So please, tell me." She egged me on.
I didn't know what to do. I had half a mind to just put the phone down and act like nothing ever happened, or use magic to erase her memories. But then, I'd be crazy to do that to my best friend. Not to mention, about fifty people saw me perform magic.
The moment I opened my mouth, trying to make up a lie that she'll believe, she said five more words, five words that made me rethink my whole strategy. "Unless, you don't trust me."
I tightened my grip on the phone, wanting to break it, just to end this conversation. Memories from three years ago flooded into my mind.
"I knew it. You don't trust me."
I was taken aback by her words. "Gen, it's not that-"
"No. It's exactly that! I can't believe that even after everything we've been through, you still don't trust me!" Without another word, she tromped down the hill.
"Gen-" I tried to form words to make her stop, but nothing came to my mind. I reached out for her with a hand, but she was already gone.
"it's not that…" I said in a daze.
"Then what is it? Is it big a secret to keep from your best friend?" Rose's voice snapped me back to reality.
"I'll tell you tomorrow, I promise." I said, still thinking of that memory. With that, I put the phone down.
Instinctively, I reached for the ring on top of the table. It was one of the grandest I've seen, with a pure gold band, three black diamonds on the top, and with complex designs engraved on the gold. Slowly, I put in on my right ring finger, and spoke one word.
"Heqat."
The ring shone brightly, and after the light died down, I was holding a khopesh in my hands. It had three diamonds resting in a triangular patter on its hilt, and was gold all over – hilt, handle, and blade. The ridges on the handle seemed to fit my hand on its own accord.
How people would kill for this, I thought of bitterly. I willed the khopesh to turn back into the ring, and put it back on the table. I stood up from the chair, and walked over to where my mirror hung. As I looked at my reflection, I couldn't help but chuckle as I remembered all those jokes years ago. With my dark blue eyes, thick messy black hair, and tan skin, people say that I could be the long-lost son of Zeus. It was highly irritating, but for some reason, I missed them all.
I mean, who'd actually want to be the child of the single most egoistic, paranoid, selfish, and melodramatic god ever to walk the face of the earth? Thunder rumbled outside, like Zeus could sense my thoughts, but I didn't care. I headed over to my bed, and let my dreams consume me.
~Dreams Unfulfilled~
The next day, I got an unexpected surprise.
I was walking along the hallways, trying to find Rose so I could at least explain about my behavior last night, when I spotted two sets of jet black hair turning the corner. My heart suddenly skipped a beat. Of all places, they couldn't be here, could they?
I quickly followed them, sticking close to the walls. As soon as both of them went to the Principal's office, I snuck closer, and pressed my ear to the door to eavesdrop…er, listen.
"-so good to have both of you here, Ms. Grace and Ms. Di Angelo. I hope that Donovan Academy serves best to your liking. If there is any trouble, just come directly to me."
"Oh shit!" I screamed before I could control myself.
Who's there?" I heard the Principal say. Truthfully, I never bothered to know his name.
I backed up as quickly as I could, and ran to the nearest corner. Within seconds, I heard a door open, and three sets of footsteps head outside.
"Seems like Nobody, I guess."
"Be careful. There's always more than meets the eye." I heard a very familiar voice say. I took a risk, and peeked around the corner, only to see a hand pointing directly at me. No, I realized, not at me but where I am.
"Thalia, check that corner. " My heart skipped another beat, and I got ready for a fight that I know would surely come. My breathing was ragged, and I sensed the electricity in the air. The bad thing was, I knew it wasn't just a figure of speech.
Still, I had time to think, I really shouldn't have insulted Zeus last night.
Then, I felt something grab me, and shove me up against the lockers. When I looked down, I saw myself trapped in shadows, and a pair of very angry brown eyes glaring up at me. Along with that, two Stygian Iron knives flashed at my throat.
Despite that life or death situation I was in now, I just smiled sheepishly. "Oh, hello Bianca."
~Dreams Unfulfilled~
Author's Note: So, How was it? I know, there's a lot of questions, but I promise, all will be answered in time. Also, since this is my first crack at writing a fic (yay!), I would like to know: How did I do? Did you guys like it?
I know I still have a long way to go, and John told me that "constructive criticism is always better than praise in these things," whatever that means. But I want to be as good, or even better, as him. So please, tell me how I did, and expect next chapter by next week!