It was a beautiful spring morning, the sunshiny, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky, pollen-saturated day that fills some people with joy and sends others running for allergy medicine. But Chiron was one of the few people- or centaurs- who weren't doing either. Nor was he teaching his noon archery class, as he could usually be found doing at twelve forty five.
Instead, Chiron sat in his wheelchair in the camp "office", gazing at would appear to be a random spot on the wall and looking quite perplexed.
"It's insane!" the nervous satyr in the Iris Message exclaimed as he came into focus again. "I can't place where exactly it's coming from, but it's so powerful! Very concentrated, too! It's not coming from a spread out area, you know? The scent's all coming from one place."
Chiron drummed his pen on a stack of registration forms. "In Cincinnati, you say?" he asked. Then he frowned, thinking aloud. "Cincinnati…not usually too many monsters there, are there, now? One of the quieter zones…"
He looked back at the satyr, who still seemed uneasy. "Is there anything else, Bren?"
The satyr bit his lip in a moment of indecision. "No, sir," he finally said.
Chiron watched him dubiously. "Are you sure?"
"No…oh, fine, yes!" the satyr admitted. "There's a demigod at the school I've been watching…" Bren shifted uncomfortably.
Chiron raised his eyebrows. "Do continue, Bren."
"Well, yeah, so I've been watching the kid…" Bren paused again. Chiron sighed in exasperation.
"Please, Bren, continue."
"And…I…thinkthemonstersareafterhim," Bren finished; the last words all coming out in a rush.
Chiron stared at the satyr with disbelief. He tried to hide his irritation. "And you waited until now to say something?" He shook his head. "Never mind. We'll speak later."
With one hand, he was thumbing through a thick binder full of registration forms, quickly scanning the addresses, murmuring "Cincinnati, Cincinnati," under his breath all the while. At last he found one that would do, and flipped the binder shut.
He broke the connection and scooped another drachma from his saddlebag, which was looped around one wheelchair arm, and tossed it toward the window, murmuring a prayer to Iris. Mist from a small fountain hit the prisms that had been hung in the window for that very purpose, creating a rainbow, and the drachma slid right in."
After a second's wait, a girl appeared. She was sitting at a lunch table with a few other girls and eating a sandwich. When she saw the Iris Message, her eyes widened.
"Chiron?" She paused. "Wait, hold on a second." She said something to the girl next to her and disappeared. When she came back into view, she was in an empty hallway.
"What's up?"
Chiron leaned forwards into the Iris Message. "Tessa, we've got a problem, and we need your help."
/.../
Max White's day had been bad enough already. He'd already missed the bus and had to run half a mile to school, and had been loaded with two tons of English homework, not the best setup for a dyslexic, ADHD kid.
But the report on Greek myths took the cake; frosting, candles and all. "It's just a short report," the teacher had told the class when she was met with moans and groans. Well, the teacher was wrong. It wasn't just a short report. It was a pile of research to do, too, and Max doubted he was ever going to need the knowledge again.
What a waste of time, he thought disdainfully, and stared at the computer screen in front of him. At least he was getting to type the report instead of writing it by hand.
Max drummed his fingers on the keys. What was he going to do his report on? Unlike the other kids, who'd read some myths the year before, he didn't have a clue. He was brand new to the school, and he hadn't read a myth in years! Did the school expect him to remember all those ancient, dusty figures?
Finally, he simply typed 'list of greek myths', hoping that the Internet would provide him with a list of some sort that he could choose from. The page appeared, and he slowly scrolled down, looking for something that seemed helpful.
He clicked on a few random links, at last finding a site that would be of use to him. He took in his options. None of them sounded particularly interesting, and their names were impossible to pronounce. No way was he going to be stumbling over "Laistrygonian" in front of the entire class.
"Echidna, Chrysaor, Hekaton…something…" he mused, frowning. He paused on the next link for a moment, and then nodded to himself. The words had awoken a memory that had settled to the bottom of his brain and it brought a small smile to his face.
He opened a Word document and typed in "The Gorgons".
/.../
Tessa Winston hoisted herself onto a thick branch and peered over a tall fence into the yard from which she had heard screaming. Nothing. Or not what she was looking for, anyway. Just two little mortal kids fighting over a Popsicle.
Sighing, she dropped back onto the sidewalk a few feet below. What kind of mission was this, searching Cincinnati for a powerful monster without any lead, any hints, any help?
It was a hopeless mission, that's what. The kid in question would probably be long since eaten by the time she found him.
And then she felt it.
It was that feeling she sometimes got, almost like a sixth sense, telling her that something was wrong.
It was kind of like a chill down her back, but different. She was sure, though, that trouble was near. Specifically, the trouble was at the school directly across the road.
The daughter of Athena turned and saw a trio of women dressed in sleek black walking up the sidewalk towards the school's main building. They were definitely too old to be students, and Tessa was willing to bet that they weren't teachers.
Suspicious. And perfect at the same time. Because Tessa Winston finally had a lead.
/.../
As soon as the lady pulled Max into the counselor's office, he began to have a sinking feeling in his stomach. It's okay, he tried to convince himself. She's just the new counselor.
But something at the back of his mind told him that the strange woman was indeed not just a counselor. Of course, he ignored it.
Just then, the door slammed shut and locked with a click. Max jumped, startled. Then he looked up, and his heart stopped.
Snakes.
Her hair was full of them. Check that, her hair was made of snakes. The woman grinned- or rather, sneered- and tapped her dark glasses teasingly.
She was…she was…
He sat frozen in his chair, paralyzed in fear. He was sure he was trembling. Had he been eating magic mushrooms or something? Who the heck was this lady?
And then he realized. He knew. It made no sense, but Max found that he could indeed put a name to the monster.
She was Medusa.
/.../
Author's Note: OK, so that was Part One. Tell me what you thought- review, por favor! BTW, those /.../ things are my makeshift line breaks. For some reason, FF isn't letting me make actual line breaks.
Raindrop