Myth of the River
On a normal day to the woods it was sunny with some clouds, no chance of rain at all. It was a warm day not too windy; Drake parked the car on this rocky spot and turned it off. Mark was the first to get out of the car and grabbed his bag, Drake got out and let Rose out of the car she smiled softly at him and grabbed her bag also. Drake was checking out the map for the trail they were supposes to take to get to the cabin. "Ok, guys this looks like the trail we are suppose to take right?" Asked Drake, "Looks right to me man." Replied Mark. Drake looked at Rose to see what she thought and she just nod at him and smiled.
They all got their belongings together and started the walk, an hour later it was starting to get dark. The temperature was dropping by the minute and the wind was getting colder. They decided to put up their tents which Drake and Rose shared one and Mark had his own. During the night they all gathered around a fire, Drake was the one who went to gather wood and sticks they can warm up some food.
While they were eating some smores some clouds build up and started to rain. They decided to call it a night and went to their tents, Mark slept alone in his and Drake and Rose shared a sleeping bag in their tent. When morning came they started to hike up the woods again, but there was a different aura this time. Drake was the one to notice that everything seem different, first the ground wasn't wet around this area and second they heard a river when there shouldn't be a river in this part of the woods. "Hey guys…we should check it out," Mark shouted from the back. Drake looked at Rose and then back at Mark, "Fine we will check it out but not long ok?" Mark agreed and they walked down to where the sound of water was coming from.
As they were walking they came across a sign, "Do not walk pass this boundary line," Rose read the sign, Mark laughed and started walking anyway. "Hey, get back here it said we can't go in there," yelled Drake. "I don't care what the sign said, I don't see any cameras or auto rifles getting ready to shoot me so lets go check it out," Drake and Rose looked at each other and sighed then they heard Mark screamed and they ran over to him. "Mark where are you!" They both shouted and then they heard a sighed and looked down to a hole, "Um…man you down there?" asked Drake. "No this is a troll getting ready to eat you…. yes I'm down here!" replied Mark with irritation. Drake and Rose started to laugh at him and then they dropped some rope down and started to pull him up.
After they got him up Rose and Drake were still laughing at him for not paying attention. "Oh my god…I can't believe you fell in a hole!" Drake was starting to lose his breath. Mark punched his arm and started to bandage up his hand that he cut falling. They were closer to the river and decided to go see it, Rose was taking pictures of some plants and trees, and she was hoping to get a picture of the river. The sound of water was getting louder and they all smiled and went through some bushes and then their eyes widen with confusion and amazement. The water was red…
"What…. the…hell…!" yelled Mark who was running to this strange color river. "Hey don't get to close!" Rose shouted at him but there was no hope, Mark was always an independent person who did what he always wanted to do. Mark was about to stick his hand into the river when suddenly a dog ran out of nowhere and teeth showing with loud unusually growls. Mark didn't have time to react when the dog's teeth dug into his skin making him scream in pain, the dog let go and glared at the others. "Hey…um good doggy?" Drake was nervous but by the looks of it, being nice to this dog wasn't going to work. Mark stumbles up to his feet and ran beside his friends holding his arm tightly.
Drake whispered in Mark's ear "Having a bad day? I mean first the hole with your hand and now your arm with this crazy dog?" Mark wasn't in the mood for jokes as he was clutching his arm tight and trying to prevent the bleeding. The dog wasn't stopping growling, he was getting louder. Suddenly a small figure came out of nowhere and the dog's attention went to it and ran after the figure. Drake took this as a chance to get away so he grab Rose and yelled at Mark to follow them but Mark wasn't moving "Mark come on!" Yelled Rose. Mark looked at them, something was different about him "No…I'm staying…" His voice was different also. "Mark this isn't the time to be all tough, your arm is bleeding like crazy so lets get the hell out of here!"
A bear suddenly came out of the bushes and looked at them, fear filled their bodies. "Mark…we have to go…there is…" Drake couldn't finish his sentence as Mark suddenly fell into the mysterious river. "MARK!" Both Rose and Drake yelled at their friend who has fallen into the river. The bear started to walk towards the fearful couple when suddenly a voice shouted, "You idiots get out of there!" Drake came back to reality as he grab Rose's hand and started to run into the woods again hearing a strange laughter coming from behind them, he didn't dare look back to see what it was.
Running scared Drake had no idea where he was running to when suddenly the voice came back "Turn left…. right now!" Drake wasn't sure if he should trust it but he turned left anyway, 'Better then running nowhere' Drake said to himself. Rose was crying behind him so he squeezed her hand in reassurance and she squeezed back. After running for minutes he stopped at a huge tree, probably the tallest in the woods, and sat down under it, catching his breath. Drake wasn't sure who guided them here but he spoke up "Who are you…what's going on here!"
There was no reply but suddenly a rabbit hopped out of the bushes and stared at the two. Rose smiled softly and whispered "What a cute bunny Drake" They laughed softly and suddenly the rabbit…. coughed? "Cute? That's a first…" Everyone went silent as the rabbit spoke. "Did…. this thing…talked?" Mumbled Drake who was full of confusion. Rose was full of excitement and yelled "The cute rabbit talks! Oh my god!" she took a picture of the rabbit. He coughed again and stared at them "You guys are in huge trouble…you shouldn't have gone to the river" Drake stood up and yelled, " That River took my friend!" Rose grabbed his arm and pulled him back down whispering something in his ear, he sighed. "That river has power neither of you can understand" The rabbit was acting like a professor now. Drake was laughing after he said "power" and looked at him "Power? What power? It's a river…that looks like its filled with blood!" Rose was trying to keep him calm but it wasn't working out too well.
The rabbit was losing his patience and time so he ran up to Drake and suddenly kicked him so hard he fell back against the tree. Rose got up and ran to him yelling at the rabbit "What is wrong with you! Who are you! What's going on?" He was laughing as she yelled and helped Drake up. "I am not important it's the bear and the dog you should worry about, because you see" He sighs and continues "That River is…the river of Styx"
Silence filled the air as suddenly they all heard a scream; Drake got up and started to run toward the sound Rose yelling behind him "Drake no! Come back!" Drake ignored her cry as he ran through the woods heading toward the screams as he thought 'Why am I doing this? I'm running into this danger not knowing what would come of it' He didn't have time to finish his thought as he reach the river and saw something that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
What Drake saw still doesn't make sense to him and suddenly the rabbit appeared at his side with Rose behind him. "I am too late…it already happen" Drake didn't look at him but replied, "What already happen…" He didn't have to wait for an answer as Mark rise from the river his eyes black, looking like his soul was taken from him. Drake and Rose were speechless; their breath was taken away from them. 'It can't be him…it just can't' those thoughts were racing through Drake's mind.
Drake hands were trembling with fear and suddenly the touch of Rose's hands stopped the trembling but the fear was still there. Mark notice them right away and grinned evilly "Welcome…. to hell Drake!" Marks voice was a sharp ring in everyone's ears…it almost hurt. "Rabbit…dude…. what is this." Drake voice was starting to tremble, Rose was rubbing his hand that was sweating with fear. The rabbit looked at them both "He has taken on the curse of Achilles…" "The curse of who and what?" Drake couldn't look away as he spoke and the rabbit continue "The curse of Achilles! The river of Styx has power in it…but when any mortal goes into it they burn up and die!" Drake notice Mark wasn't waiting anymore and started to run "We need to go!" They all agreed and started to run away Drake wouldn't let go of Rose's hand, who was still speechless out of fear. She decided to speak up "How…how do you stop him…"
The rabbit was lost in a thought and Drake was getting inpatient "Hey you stupid rabbit answer her!" He glanced at Drake and looked annoyed "Young man I am not stupid and stop calling me rabbit just call me sir" Drake was getting more impatient "If you don't tell us how to stop him we will all die!" Then he thought for a second and sighed "Please tell us…. sir" Rabbit looked at Drake with a look of amusement and sighed "Very few had taken on the curse of Achilles and all of them had one weak spot that they chosen so no one will know, we need to find it…they choose a spot on their body and that is there only weakness we call it Achilles Heel"
Drake was watching the way he talked as they hid into a cave to hide from Mark…. or whoever he was now. Drake suddenly asked, "How do you know so much about the Achilles Curse and the River of Styx?" Drake stared at the rabbit and notice a look of fear on his face, Rose has been tending the fire as they talked "Maybe he just learned a lot of is a very old bunny" She laughed a little as she said it. Drake walked over to her and rubbed her back and started to talk to her about what happen as the rabbit thought to himself 'The kid was a mortal…how did he not burn up…no mortal could survive that…' As he was thinking this he didn't notice the others looking at him trying to get his attention. He looks at them as they repeated what they said, "We heard a noise outside…" They both whispered it. The rabbit listen to the sound, which sounded like a bear walking through some bushes. "It's Apate…" They looked at him weird "What did you say?" Drake was confused and the rabbit was getting annoyed 'don't they teach anything anymore' He thought to himself and sighed "It's Greek mythology, Apate she was the spirit of deceit"
Drake and Rose didn't say anything just looked at each other and looked at the strange rabbit in front of them "Your saying we are dealing with Greek myth? You got to be kidding me?" It was Rose this time being confused. The rabbit walked towards them and slaps Drake in the face. Drake got up on his feet rubbing his face "What the hell rabbit? What did I do?" He was really getting annoyed with the thing in front of him "You idiot! Myths mean stories that weren't proven true and since they are real it is not a myth! Apate can be very dangerous and since she is known for deception she must have tricked Mark into going in the river!" Drake's eyes widen at the thought and looked down ashamed of himself for letting his friend down. Rose held his hand and looked at the rabbit "What about that dog…?" Rabbit paced backed and forth and looked up at the couple and smiled softly…they seemed happy with each other but right now they were in despair because of everything.
"Thanatos…god of death" He notice their faces dim and he added "They are suppose to be guarding the river but they must had it with the rules and are taking things in their own hands" He decided to sit and watch them "So…we have a spirit and a god?" Rose asked the rabbit with a look of concern and he nod at them.
After a moment of silence they heard someone clapping behind them and as they turned to look at saw Mark. He was laughing and his eyes weren't black anymore they were normal. Rose sat up quick along with Drake as they looked at their friend confused if they could trust him or if he was evil. As if he was reading their minds he ran and pinned Drake against the rocky wall "Hello Drake…" Drake notice that his eyes went black and then to normal, Mark was evil. "Yes…. your right I'm evil…. you see they might have convinced me to go in but I have a mind of my own…." Drake was trying to move but he was pinned against the wall to hard and Rose was trying to move Mark's arm, which wasn't working.
The rabbit suddenly pushed Mark away and glared at him "I finally realized why you didn't burn up! You are the son of Hades!" Drake and Rose froze up and went speechless; Mark was starting to laugh at the comment. "Yes…they told me that at first I didn't believe them but they convinced me!" His eyes went black again Drake just couldn't believe it. Rose was on the ground in tears Drake touched her hand and whispered something in her ear and then he got up and started to charge at Mark "No Drake you can't face a god or the son of a god!" Drake ignored the rabbit and suddenly punched Mark so hard that he flew to the ground. The rabbit went silent and Drake was holding his fist with wide eyes.
"No…it can't be…no mortal can take on a demi-god…who are these three?" whispered the stunned rabbit. Mark was starting to get and Rose grabbed the rabbit and ran out of the cave. "Lady what are you doing!" Yelled rabbit "Drake's plan was to caused a diversion so we can escaped!" Tears were filling her eyes up and the rabbit just couldn't help but asked, "What are your parents?" The question caught her off guard as she trip.
Minutes later they were sitting in a tree breathing hard, "Our parents…. we have none we were all adopted, strange huh? We all found it weird when we first met in middle school; we became friends because of our past." She smiled softly as she told the story "Mark…. was always aggressive and negative but he does have a heart and cared for his friends problems, Drake well…. he loves water and enjoys going to lakes and hanging out by the river outside of our school, he is a caring guy and I love him." The rabbit study her face as she said all that, "What about you? What is your story?" Her eyes widen.
"My story? Drake and Mark know me better then anyone else we know, I was smart when it comes to math and science, Mark was gym and war, Drake was history and reading. But me…god I don't know what to say I am an outgoing person who loves biking and music." Her face was red with frustration and being nervous. The rabbit sighed and then a scream came out of nowhere, Rose's eyes widen with fear. "Drake…?" "Don't worry about him…if my suspicions are right, you and Drake are also children of a god." The rabbit closed his eyes and left it like that. Rose couldn't think of anything to say except "If we are children of a god then we can defeat him?" Her hope was dieing but she still hoped for the safety of Drake. "Not that easy miss…we need to find his Achilles Heel…"
"That won't happen old man!" It was Apate with Thanatos by her side. "Leave us alone you two…. we did nothing wrong!" Yelled the old rabbit as he got on his small feet looking down at the spirit and minor god. "Old man your not as tough as you used to be back when you first fell in the river and we know where the Achilles heel is on the kid but we won't tell you!" growled the dog Thanatos. Apate was already moving towards the two Rose balance was bad and couldn't stand up on the thin branch but the rabbit had no problem standing up as he stared down the dog and bear.
Back in the cave where Mark and Drake were fighting, Drake wasn't sure where the sudden strength came from but if he had to use it against his former friend he will. Mark was a lot stronger then him though but Drake was known for never giving up. He kept dodging his attacks trying to think of ways to hit him, he kept thinking of what the rabbit said about the weak point and how you have to find it.
He was thinking of a strategy to find the spot as he watched Mark's moves. He picked up a rock and through it somewhere at hit back Mark didn't bother to block, meaning that wasn't the spot and then Drake remember Mark having an accident and hurt some parts of his body and then he thought 'Ok…I have find those spots…that's what he probably chose one of those spots…' As he thought this he notice Mark moving faster and he dodges yet another close call.
Drake decided to do the charge this time and punched him in the jaw with fierce force causing Mark to ram against the rocky wall of the cave. "Mark…I'm going to regret doing this…you were always there for me and Rose, we trusted you and I thought I knew you!" Drake wanted to cry but he had to be strong, he picked up a sharp rock and looked into Mark's eyes. "You thought you knew me but you were wrong! I have always hated you! Your life was better then mine!" The words Mark said stabbed Drake's heart like a dagger. He hesitated and Mark saw it as he got up, grabbed Drake's wrist and flung him into the ground hard.
Drake didn't know what to do, Mark was stronger but Rose always told him that his heart was stronger then Mark's. Drake started to struggle and kicked Mark in the gut but the kicked was stronger then he wanted it to be. Mark flew into the ceiling of the cave and he fell to the ground. Drake took this as a chance to finish this, he picked up the rock and walked over to the body. "Mark…I always wanted to be you…you were so free and you didn't have to worry about tough decisions…I will miss you." Drake took the rock and stabbed Mark in the back of his shoulder blade. He was correct that was Mark's Achilles Heel.
Seconds after the rock went through Mark screamed out in pain and it was over. His body shriveled up and disappeared. Drake left the cave worry about Rose and the annoying rabbit. "Where did those two go…I swear I will kick that rabbit's…" He couldn't finish the sentence because he heard a girls scream, "Rose!" He ran to her direction.
Rose fell out of the tree and hurt her ankle, she saw the dog-called Thanatos walking towards her as Apate, the bear, deals with the rabbit. "Please leave me alone!" yelled Rose but Thanatos kept moving towards her. His teeth were sharp and showing, he started to move faster towards and then suddenly a figure comes out of the bushes and kicks the dog into a tree.
Rose looked at the person and notice it was Drake. "Drake! Oh my god, I thought you were dead!" Her ankle was still hurting and she couldn't get up. Drake kneeled down to her and moved her to a safe place, "Stay here where it's safe let me handle this ok?" He kissed her cheek and headed back. The rabbit was dodging Apate the bear who was chasing him around a tree. Drake picked up a sharp stick and sneaked up behind the bear as she was sniffing a hole in the ground where the rabbit jumped into, he stuck the stick in the back of the bear causing her to scream in pain.
"You little twerp!" the bear was having trouble walking now and growled at Drake. "Mark is dead…give up" Drake was nervous as he said it and Rose over heard it and suddenly broke into tears. Thanatos and Apate couldn't believe what they heard, Mark their one and only hope out of the deal with Hades, "You are lying! He was the son of Hades you couldn't have killed him unless…" Her eyes widen and then changed black with rage and hatred "I know who you are…. another demi-god! But which god" Thanatos went to her side and sat down like any good 'doggy' and stared at Drake and now the rabbit at his side with hate.
"He is the son of a god yes but I don't know who" mention the rabbit, Drake was to stunned from the recent news. Drake clenched his fist and yells at the top of his lungs, "Shut up! What is going on! Who am I!" He closes his eyes and waited for an answered, the rabbit sighed. "You are the son of Poseidon, god of the earth and water. Earthquake god for a nickname. Rose she is…the daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and women." Drake and Rose eyes widen, they would have never guess. Apate started to laugh, well if a bear can even laugh, "What great news!" Before she could move the dog barked loud at her and she froze up. "We cannot anger Poseidon…we will retreat for now" "But Thanatos!" "No! We will retreat!" Barked the dog and so they retreated, no one bothered to stop them.
The rabbit and Drake went over to Rose he was looking tired. "Hey how is your ankle?" He smiled softly and kissed Drake's cheek "I think I just sprained it." He rubbed it for her and then carried her in his arms. "We should head back home…my life took a big change today…. both of our lives" He looked at her and smiled and then looked at the rabbit "Who are you…I just thought about this now…. you knew a lot about the gods, river, us, and those two…who are you?" The rabbit laughed and hopped away but saying "I thought you stupid kids would have figured it out already? Or do they stop teaching myths in school?" He laughed and disappeared in the woods.
Drake didn't understand at all and looked at Rose smiling, "Did he just call us stupid?" He laughed and looked at the sky "Yes he did…but I think I know who he was" He looked at her and waited "He gave us hints Drake…He knew a lot about the Achilles Heel and the gods…he was Achilles" His eyes widen and looked at the woods. "Achilles…. making sure that no one repeats his mistakes and that no one has the burden of the Achilles curse…" After that he went back in the car and drove off, thinking of his former friend who was driven mad with power.
Drake learned something important today "You don't know who a person is until he is given unexpected power, he hasn't rehearsed for the part yet, so what you see is who he is." Rose looked at him and nodded. Their lives are different now but their love is stronger then ever.