How Can Best Friends Love?

by jayzholygrail8

A short made up story that is not yet finished, but i will update it within the next 2 weeks. It's about exactly what the title says. Please comment, so i can make improvements!

Introduction

Have you ever heard of Greek mythology? If you thought no, then I'd suggest you to put this down right now, but you should read on anyway. Mythology is the general Greek religion. It's a series of stories explaining the world. For example, Pandora's Box explains why we feel the everyday emotions we do.

In this story-Well, I'll let you figure that out by yourself. Have fun!

Beware perspective changes!

Important Characters

Rion Larx Bleudoux- (ry-an larks bloo-douw)

Danica Raxitian- (raks-it-ee-un)

Iedoun Germaine Charome- (ee-uh-don jer-mane shar-oum)

Gavin Hilt- (as spelled)Gavenus Hiliston- (gah-vee-nus hil-is-tun)

Digna Lenton-(as spelled) Digania Lentosa- (dig-an-eeah len-toh-sah)

Calvin Ronin- (cal-vin row-nin)Caltus Jay Ronin- (kal-tus jay row-nin)

Calla Mantius Greye Ronin- (cay-ah man-tee-us grey row-nin)

Gladys Del Valle- (glad-is del val-yeh)

Dey Larx- (as spelled) Deyus Larkoux- (day-us lar-couw)

Chapter 1: Another School Beginning {Narrator}

"Another year of teasing starts today," I thought to myself, "at least I don't have to wear those big bulky glasses anymore." All her life, Danica has been constantly transferring schools because she had "special needs." Not really. She just never experienced having a best friend – until one year at Zantaro in Ohio, the cool kid, Rion secretly had a crush on her. She tutored him and soon they were debating against who had better grades. Everyone hated him then, but he didn't care. Since then, they've been best friends and have been staying in Zantaro. They ate the same way, studied the same, got the same grades, people even said they looked the same. Really, they only dressed similar. True best friends.

Now they had to move on from of that old elementary-middle school. Allen Avery High - the most prestigious school in Ohio. Every kid wishes to have the right to say, "I went to Allen Avery High," but not everyone can.

She was worried sick today and skipped breakfast, even though she'd transferred many times. Will I be teased? Will I fail the first semester? Will I look dumb? Will the people like me!? Will the food be good?! All these questions and more ran through her head. At least Rion will be there. Right?

She looked at the clock. 8:15. she had 15 more minutes . Honestly, she didn't look very bad. She had longer, straighter hair, contact lenses instead of big, bulky glasses, and new shoes. How can you possibly go wrong with new shoes? Yeah ok, maybe that way, but these were red shoes. No way around that.

As her dad pulled up at Allen Avery, there was Rion, apparently a tad taller than before, dressed like Elvis Presley, except with bright red Nikes. His hairstyle changed. For the better.

"I got it Uncle Phil," he said to my dad.

"Ok, take care!" he replied, driving away.

A minute later, Rion received a text from my dad. Of her.

"Let me take a look at your schedule," he said. He glanced at it and said,

"Ok, I have you in every class except PE", he said.

"How'd you know what my schedule was so fast? And what sport did you take? I'm sure you already know I took swimming." For some reason, it looked like he went pale. Or maybe it was just the light. Yeah the light.

"I took football. Just to have something different. And I helped out over the summer so I had a better sense of the place and people before school started."

"Mmhmm…"

"That way to English."

At lunch, Danica headed for the cafeteria when she noticed that Rion was missing from his usual place - behind her. About to grab a tray at the beginning of the lunch line, Rion handed her a full tray, with all the foods she would've gotten if she had been the one in the line. She could get used to this.

"So you have football next?" she asked

"Yes. And you told me not ask if I already knew. Shouldn't that apply to you too?"

"Then how was I supposed to start the conversation?"

"Ask me something you didn't know?"

"But I know more than you do, so how would you help me with that?"

"Who said you knew more than me?"

"I did, so it's true,"

"Just because you say so doesn't mean it's true,"

"But when a genius says it is, it is. That's why I am,"

The bell rang for the next period.

Walking out the girls' locker room, Danica adjusted her swimming cap, trying to use it to round up the stray hairs sticking out. She looked at her classmates before she walked in. The group was mingling, getting to know each other before the teacher came. The more popular people of the group were the Three Specials. Special has different meanings; it could mean gifted, one of a kind, or it could be an insult.

The "leader" of the Specials is Digna. She's the typical white girl you expect, except she's smart, a kiss up, and a powerful enemy. How do I know? I've met her mother.

The "secondary," (the one who always follows, agrees, and backs up the leader) was named Gladys. Again, she is the typical secondary. No exceptions. She helps the rumors spread, plans the disasters on other people, and takes care of Digna's homework, schedule, and appearance just to avoid Digna's wrath and stay high in the popularity list.

The "rebel," (let's call it) is Dinogomi aka Dino. She was the one who defended the people Digna and Gladys picked on, but she never went so far as to oppose them. She was really nice and smart, and funny, she just didn't have many friends and Digna saw her potential and took her under her wing. Digna was nothing without Dino and Gladys.

She tried to casually walk near Dino without Digna and Gladys ganging up on her and making a scene. Surely, it worked.

"Hey Dino," she said.

"Oh, hey Dan, what's up?"

"Not much, just skeptical. You know, first day of school. First day of HIGH school ," she managed to stammer.

"Have you ever thought that it's kinda weird that were girls and we call each other Dino and Dan?" she laughed. Her randomness is amusing.

"Yeah, you know that one-"

"Oh, who do we have here? The drag in our swim team," Oh Digna, always the first troublemaker. Pretty as she was, she was also rude and cruel . Digna stepped out of the small ring of people she was talking to and moved closer to Danica, attracting a bigger ring of people. She was at least half a foot taller than her, her slim but sturdy frame quite intimidating. This not how Danica imagined her first day to be. But if she were going to be in a scene, she'd make it her best.

"With you as a leader? What swim team?" Danica asked.

"Oh you have some nerve. Coming up to someone like-" she was cut off.

"As I remember, YOU came up to ME" she came back. She added a few head jerks in her sentences. A buzz of "ooh," and other mumblings came from the rest of the surrounding classmates. Someone was standing up to Digna.

"Let's see where your words take you in the water. Up to the surface, or down to drown."

"So be it. Shall we wager on that? How about, your dignity?" This wasn't a buzz from the crowd, it was a roar. Or was that Digna's rage?

The instructor walked in and the crowd dissipated.

The class suited up for nothing. They weren't going to actually get in the water until a few weeks after, where the swim teams have been picked. They wouldn't know how people swam until the monthly competition. The top three would have more training than just in one class. They'd have to cut a few electives out and replace them with swim training to prep the representatives for the nationals and maybe the International Finals and the World Cup, right below the real Olympics. Allen Avery was a very lucky school with so many opportunities.

Chapter 2: Lights Out {Danica}

Two weeks after school had started, I was having trouble focusing. My grades went from A's to C's and it hasn't even been a month yet. It's been a while since I've been in the water. I think that's what it is. I haven't been myself. The last time I'd been in the water was a month before we moved miles away. This new house didn't have a pool and I didn't know where the public pool was, so I was stuck in this condition. Water and I have a very close relationship. I have to swim very often. This was the first time in my life I hadn't been in a pool for this long of a period of time. I have to swim somewhere. The first thing that popped in my mind was Rion. He had to know a way to help me.

"Nope sorry, I don't know any way to help you" he said.

"What?! The come with me and help me find somewhere where I can swim. Please?" I pleaded. I really needed to swim somewhere.

"I can't, I have a ton of appointments today. I'm booked. I wish I could come with you," I could tell he was lying but I wasn't in the right mind to question him.

I clung to his arm and looked at him tenderly , "Please?" I didn't do this often, but I was desperate. He looked at me lovingly, then sighed, "Dang it Dan," he shut the door in my face.

A few minutes later, he opened the door, fixing his black leather jacket . "You must be really desperate to swim." Hair gelled and neatly combed, he slipped on his Nikes and sunglasses and walked toward Allen Avery, taking me under his arm and pretending like he couldn't walking a straight line and almost pushing me off the sidewalk. I returned the kind gesture smiling in his face and secretly turning my left foot out causing him to nearly trip on his face. We teased each other like this all the time. I liked it, he probably did too.

The blocks were filled with name brand store like Coach and Calvin Klein, accompanied with 99-cent stores here and there. Other than that, the streets were practically empty. No cars, no strays, no people, no birds, and not even a single security guard was in sight. It was like a big outdoor mall after the apocalypse started. It was foreboding something bad. I could feel it. All my attention was on watching my back and looking for any signs of life other than Rion and me. I watched him walk with his signature dose of lethal swagger, with just the right amount of stupid. He could make any girl his. If only there was a girl he liked. It was hard to mock or copy his walk. After all, you can't mess with perfection.

Even after a long while, we didn't see any cars pass by or people walking. A block from AA High, I started to feel dizzy and weak. I could barely walk. I stopped and tried to steady myself against a parking meter to no avail. I called Rion a few feet ahead of me then I felt myself slowly slipping and everything went black.

Chapter 3: Desperate to Dying {Rion}

One moment I was lying to her face, the next she trips me and now I hear my name being called. It might sound like torture, but this has actually been a really good day. I had to cancel my meeting with the dean of the university I was going to attend to, but it's still been a good day. Dan asked for my help today AND she clung to my arm in desperation. When she's better, she'll try to explain her way around this stuff, but there's no way out.

When AA was just around the corner, she called my name. It was weak, I could tell. She wasn't faking it, when I turned around, she was falling back. Good thing I was fast enough to catch her. Sort of. Well, I kind of tripped and she landed on me, but she didn't hit the ground, so that's good. I knew she was in a critical state so I had to carry her to water. AA was near and they had a pool there bigger the one that they use in the Olympics.

She wasn't that heavy, considering how much energy she had lost . It was easy to carry her to school, but not too easy to keep my eyes on where I was walking. She was beautiful. I nearly forgot she was dying. Her skin was getting paler and her hair was losing its luster. She was beautiful even in this state, but she'd been prettier when she wasn't dying. I picked up the pace and ran to school. The gates were locked, but the key was still in the hefty padlock. Idiots. I turned the key, pulled on the padlock with one hand, and kicked the gates apart.

I didn't have time to pick the front door. I walked as fast as I could to the back door, which they never lock, and entered the school. I ran to the pool on the other side of school. Dan was getting lighter. Not good. I lifted her sweater off her head and dropped her in the pool. She slowly sank to the bottom of the pool. Mission accomplished. Not much more I could do.

I waited for what seemed like five minutes and considered diving in after her. I lay down at the edge of the pool and closed my eyes, taking off my sunglasses. If I rolled over in my sleep, I'd wake up in the pool. She hadn't moved or surfaced at all. Eh, she was just sleeping, I mean, she can't be dead already.

Right?

Chapter 4: Surge {Danica}

I woke up at the bottom of AA's pool. Oh I felt so good. I'd never felt so alive. I sat up and kicked the ground hard, propelling me quickly to the top; I broke the still surface of the water and clung to the edge of the pool, gasping for air. I guess I made a big splash because Rion woke up from his nap on the floor just a foot from me.

"Hey Rion. Thank you so much for getting me to the pool! I felt like I was going to DIE. I feel so much better now," I said.

"Did you surface just now?" he asked. I thought it was a stupid question.

"Yeah, why? People have to surface, don't they?" I laughed, but he kept his face straight. Something wasn't right.

Then he laughed, "Yeah right, that couldn't have been the first time you surfaced," he laughed again.

"But it was," I said with a serious face.

"Ha ha. You're hilarious. No one can stay under water for three hours straight ," he stood up, laughing again.

I couldn't move. Three hours? Impossible, but Rion wouldn't lie to me like that.

Rion handed me a towel and right when I reached for it, something stabbed me in the stomach. Electricity.

It ran from my stomach to my spine and to my everywhere. I let go of the poolside instinctively. I was certain I was supposed to lose consciousness, but I didn't. I couldn't more, either, and below me, I could see a dark hole and I was floating toward it faster and faster, as if it was sucking me into it. I still couldn't move. Then I decided to close my eyes and sleep through my death. And, oh once again, Rion my hero grabs my arm and pulls me out of the pool, killing my death dream. He was stronger than I remembered. This wasn't the first time he'd saved me from something bad. I doubted it was going to be the last.

I gasped for air, although I didn't seem to really need it since the three hours. The ground was wet and Rion couldn't help but slip while pulling me from my doom. I couldn't tell, but I think Rion hit the ground too hard when he fell back and lost consciousness, although he did manage to keep my head from hitting the ground. However, taking the hit to the ground for me didn't seem so needed. I fell on top of him and blacked out right away. Why did I black out after? It's was like some kind of life force kept me from losing consciousness and then wore off after I got out of the water.

Chapter 5: Secret? {Rion}

I woke up with a huge headache. I tried to sit up but I couldn't; Dan was on top of me. That was probably the luckiest day of my life. We got this close to each other twice in one day! As much as I hated to, I had to shake her awake. She sat up slowly, "Sorry, I – I blacked out. Are you okay?" I smiled, "Yeah I'm okayyy," my voice vibrated a little at the end because I was….scared. Before you judge, let me tell you why. I nearly DIED when she opened her eyes. Her eyes had lime green irises with bright red pupils stretched from the top to the bottom of the irises. They were beautiful. I couldn't help but smile. "What? Wait, what time is it, how long have we been here?" she panicked. Then I finally said, "Look at your reflection. In the water, you're beautiful." I could tell that she didn't think she was beautiful, but girls can't accurately judge themselves. It's too much for them.

She let out a high-pitched scream that caused the still surface of the water vibrate. She started yelling and panicking, "AHHHH! Oh my god, I can't go anywhere looking like this, if I go to school like this, people will call me a freak, and that is NOT the first impression I want to make. What's dad going to say? He'll be so mad at me. And you! Oh god why didn't I just-" I cupped my hand over her mouth. It was almost six and we were still in here.

There was a staff meeting in the teacher's lounge at seven so we had to get out of there quick. My hand over her mouth seemed to have calmed her down. I handed her the towel, "I'm dry…? How is this possible, I mean I couldn't have been asleep on you long enough for the water to evaporate. And I DEFINITELY entered the water." She'd started it. It had begun. That was truly the best day of my life. A definite milestone in both our lives. But there was lots of trouble ahead, which she was not yet prepared for. She would have to be ready very quickly. I'd have to notify him soon.

She started crying on the floor, the tears coming from those "deformed" eyes added a slight sparkle to the already perfect eyes. I couldn't stand her. Too perfect. I hugged her and lifted her from the ground, "Let's go home, the staff have a meeting at seven and it's six fifteen." She nodded, "I don't want to walk yet," she leaned on me. She'd be heavier, but not heavy enough to weigh me down. "Okay, let's go." She climbed on my back this time, like we used to in elementary. "Put these on first, I don't want your beautiful eyes to draw any attention to us," I handed her the sunglasses. It ruined her look, but it was safer that way, "Not like there'll be people on the streets, but just to be on the safe side," she said.

Half way to her house, I could tell she fell asleep because her head was on mine and her arms weren't wrapped around my neck killing me. Kinda thankful, I knew she'd fall soon so I carried her the way I did running into AA. Her eyes had changed back to normal. Good thing too, because we were halfway to her house and we don't need any trouble from Uncle Phil. She looked so much better now that she wasn't dying, but she was still beautiful before too. I couldn't help but notice that her features were similar to Digna's . How odd.

It wasn't long before we reached her house. Uncle Phil wasn't home yet, which was good, he comes home every day at six forty-five meaning we were early. I woke her up gently and put her down. We both walked in the house, the strong scent of her air freshener hitting me like that blow I took by the pool earlier. It wasn't unpleasant though. As soon as she came back from checking her eyes in the mirror; "Well that was a crazy dream, huh? And thanks again, I owe you a lot," she hugged me and punched my arm playfully. I couldn't hold back a grunt.

"What happened?" she had to ask.

"Nothing, just a small bruise. It's nothing, don't worry about it," I smiled; I knew that smile would prove that I was fine, but something wasn't right with my smile-she didn't buy it.

"I'll be right back, don't leave yet!" she ran up to her room and didn't return until a long time. During the time, I crushed the water bottle next to me and the water, all of it, ran up my arm to the bruise and healed it. Yeah I'm special, but we all are in our own way. I sent the remaining water into one of the hanging plants next to me. Danica came running down the staircase and put her kit on the kitchen counter. I walked over.

"Okay, take your jacket off and let me see your arm," she opened her kit and dumped it on the table. More came out of the small box than anyone would think could've been packed in it. Then again, she's a girl and that's their thing. I did as I was told, but there was no bruise there.

"What, where's your bruise? There was one, you wouldn't have grunted of you didn't have one."

"I told you, it was nothing, I also told you not to worry about it. I'm fine, like always. Besides, who carried to and from AA? Right, I did," I said while slipping my jacket on. I tried to play the smart one but something was telling her that there was a bruise. I bet it was her instinct. Your instinct rarely lies to you, and I like that she has that. But I couldn't tell her my secret. Not yet.

"But you-" she was cut off again by the sound of Uncle Phil's car, "Ugh, ok go. Now," We had this procedure we went through and it was time to launch it, once again.

Our cue is the sound of Uncle Phil's car pulling in the driveway. She runs and kicks her shoes off in the garage while I'm in the kitchen heating up her food in the microwave and putting all her stuff back in the first aid kit, which took lots of time and I tossed it under the kitchen table. And when she comes back, she opens the window in the back, runs into the kitchen, and sets the table while I slide the plate of food towards her seat and she catches it, sitting down and taking a bite of food while I escape and go home through the window she opened.

And now the explanation: Uncle Phil doesn't like me in the house after 3 pm because we're both young and young people are "stupid idiots". He doesn't like shoes on the carpet, it irritates him. Uncle Phil wants Dan to be eating by the time he gets home. Danica opens the window in a certain way that when I close it, it doesn't make any noise. We had successfully completed the procedure, once again.

Chapter 6: Inside Anger {Danica}

Hot hot hot! Rion must've over heated the food again. The steak was good, but it was burning my mouth. Dad walked in and I had to keep the steak in my mouth. "Hey dad, how was work?" I asked him, like every other day. If I didn't, he'd think that something was or went wrong. "Same as every day, why do you ask?" he said sarcastically. I had to give a comeback, "And if I didn't ask?" He smirked and went upstairs to take a shower and sleep.

I put my food in a container and put it in the fridge. I didn't feel like eating. Not today.

The next day at school was better. I talked to my teachers and got my grades up to B's if not A's. I had a bigger appetite and I had sharper senses. I wish I had less anxiety, today was the choosing of the swim teams. I just wished Digna wasn't on my team. This semester, we'd have swim teams based on the kind of person, not the person's talent. Next semester would be different. But I had to focus on this semester and the swim team. Digna wasn't going down yet, it was too early for that.

English, math, history, Greek Mythology, and art class had passed. On the way to the cafeteria, I was thinking about how such a good day could possibly be ruined. I jinxed it and thought too hard. It was lunch then the picking of the swim teams. Mrs. Morla said that there would be two teams, meaning two captains. It'd be good if Digna and I were both captains. Our teams would go head to head, speed for speed. Digna was not going to like losing.

Lunch had come, then gone. Swim class. Oh the joy. I walked to Dino.

"Hey Dan, I thought you switched out of swimming?"

"What? No, I haven't even touched the water. Who would I? Where'd you hear that?" no doubt, it was Digna.

"Everyone has been talking about it since… You and Digna." She lowered her voice at the end.

"Why? All I did was correct her. Don't people do that?"

"No one has ever corrected her. And you didn't just correct her, you roasted her and you got the last word. You're the first in history. Everyone that has tried has never succeeded. Digna will do everything to ruin your social life. That's why nobody ever talks to her like that. Good luck this year new girl, you're in for one heck of a ride."

"But why is she so mean? Has she ever gotten in trouble?"

"It's her thing. She ruins people's lives for the fun of it. If anyone ever tries to get her in trouble, she will crush their social life and make them so miserable, they regret they even tried to land a hit on Digna. But, I've been getting sick of her, I want to turn against her, but I can't do it alone, so if you ever need help in taking her down, I'm here. A great plan though if you use me. I mean, I know everything about her, and she'd never guess that I turned on her. She used to be really nice, I hear. She just has a broken past. It shows. Anyway, just saying, I'd be a great ally."

Swim class started, and Digna gave me dirty looks. Dirtier than the ones she normally gives to me. Her crystal blue eyes were piercing my vision. Even when she wasn't looking directly at me, I could still see her irises. I wasn't used to it; something was going on here that I didn't know about yet. What could it be?

Chapter 7: New Ability{Rion}

Height of noon on the way home:

"Digna was looking at me all mad and angry," she said.

"Well, it's her thing. It gives her power and that's what fuels her popularity. Stupid thing. Your social life rides on what one person says, and that one person isn't even the slightest bit real. It's sad, but it's reality."

"But it was a different kind of mad. Like it wasn't because I talked back to her. Is there something I don't know?"

"Yes," I thought to myself. She didn't know it, but I did. And somehow, she heard this too. She heard my thought. How?! At least I didn't answer my question.

"So there is something I don't know. Spill it Rion, I heard it," how could she have heard it?!

"There's no reason, I didn't say anything," good thing I'm a good cover-up and actor.

"Yes there was, you thought it. Tell me, PLEASE," she did that pleading thing again. I melted.

"*sigh* Fine. We were really good friends and we used to hang out all the time. Happy?"

"WHAT?! How could you not tell me? No wonder she's always been so messed up to me. So what happened?"

"I stopped. She used to be really nice and kind and loving. Then you came along and then she started to become mean. She became meaner and meaner since you transferred. It was like she was jealous and the malice was eating up her love until she became what she is now, cold hearted, and messed up. Sometimes, I miss having her at my side. I miss us pushing each other around. She knows all my strengths and weaknesses. I still remember her sitting on top of her black Cadillac, well her dad's, but it's hers now. She used to sit on the hot roof of the car at noon. She'd just sit up there and think about things."

"I can tell she likes you. Well, at least she did, I'm not so sure now. I mean, you two have history. It sounds like I ruined your friendship. She sounds peaceful and, for the first time, pleasant. Are you sure you ditched her because she was becoming mean, or a different reason?"

"No, it was because she was becoming mean. Why? What other reason could there be?" I suddenly felt unsafe in my own mind, but I kept my composure and stopped thinking about it. She could read what I was thinking. At least not all the time. But I wasn't sure, so to test it, I thought, "Wait hold on," and I thought it, so it wasn't necessarily verbal, although it sounded exactly like it.

"Yeah, what?" she didn't notice my lips didn't move. She turned to face me.

Well, if I know, then she should too. I mean, even if I don't tell her now, she'd still find out. I faced her with a straight smile, "Oh, Nothing," we came to the place where we part our ways, in opposite directions, "Oh look, home, well I have lots of homework to do, so bye!" and we both walked home, her completely puzzled.

Chapter 8: Mind Readers (Narrator)

Danica was processing a lot. She could read Rion's mind and her eyes deform at random times now. She still had Rion's shades, which was a real lifesaver, especially in school. Their next conversation went a little like this:

"So you can read my mind now?"she asked at midnight that same day.

"And you can read mine. Surprised?" came a familiar sarcastic voice.

"It's not funny. But why? And how? What is happening to me Rion? Am I going crazy? Rion, I'm scared,"

"Naturally. It's a long story and you wouldn't believe most of it, but it's all true. I've known for a long time, and I was just waiting for the right time to tell you. It's an unbelievable life you have. Well, you and I. I'm really sleepy right now,"

"No! Don't go, I want to know what's going on,"

"You can come into my dream, if you want to. We can communicate there too while our bodies rest,"

"What? So now we have complete access to each other's minds and every aspect of it. Great, now I'm a psycho."

"It's called advanced communication. Calm down, I have it too. Geez, good night."

The bond between the two was very tight, since it grew from childhood and out. Not to mention they liked each other. Danica never told him, but they'd eventually find out. Yes, Danica has liked Rion since he gave up his reputation for their friendship, and so far neither has had the guts to tell the other. But they won't even need guts now.

It took a couple hours before they both fell asleep. Danica didn't really know how to enter Rion's dream, not like she really wanted stay in his dream, but she did want to see what it was about and if she was part of it before she entered. Pretty soon Rion got a feeling Danica was lost and entered her dream instead.

"Lost?" he said coming through a door made of clouds.

"Yeah, you didn't really teach me how to enter your dream," Danica was in a park near a lake on a swing under the blossoming trees wearing a floral on black dress and her hair down, with a side part not too far left. She never dressed like this ever.

"Hello beautiful," Rion couldn't help it. She didn't take it seriously.

"Yeah, yeah. So are you going to tell me that story?" she extended the swing so Rion could sit down. He took a seat.

"Well, that depends, are you going to explain this?" he gestured at the scenery, which she quickly changed to his room, then hers, then their favorite restaurant, Ohio's Best. She nervously laughed.

"What? Our favorite restaurant?" she hoped she'd sound smart, but knew she failed and changed it back to the lakeside, "Fine, this was where I met my first friend ever. You know, cuz no one liked me, she was around my age when I was seven. I was skipping stones on the water, skipping them six or seven times, and she walked up to me saying, 'Wow, you're good,' that was the first time I'd ever made pleasant contact with a human being other than my dad." Visuals aided her childhood story with a redhead in a yellow sun dress and a side braid characterizing Danica's first friend.

"Oh, so that's why you like parks. You know, we should go to the park sometime. Just you and I," he put his arm around her real slick.

"Yeah the thing is the nearest park is in the next state," she said.

"Then we'll fly to another state. Heck, I'll take you to New York and we'll go to Central Park," he leaned closer to her and waved his hand on front of him like he was visualizing what Central Park looked like. He could've just changed the scenery, but he didn't know what Central Park looked like, and you have to know in order for the scene to change successfully. Otherwise, you'd mess everything up.

"So now about our history… I mean, our back stories, no our life stories. Yeah, life stories. I want to know what happened to me and what's happening now,"

"You know, I'd love to, but we have one more guest coming before we tell you what's going on,"

"A third person? Who? Do I know this person? Well, whoever they are, they'll have to enter my dream quick, before I wake up. You know my routine,"

"Oh yeah, right." There was a lull in the conversation, "So while we're waiting for him, why don't we go for a walk?" He stood up bending his arm and offering it to her like an escort, "Shall we?"

"Let's shall," she took his arm and laughed at her own comment. They used to always use that line. As they grew older it became lost, and now, it's starting to find its way back. Just like the past. For the rest of the night, they spend it exploring the lakeside park. The third person had telepathically told Rion that he would "not be coming that particular night, due to the current event already taking place." Rion was thankful for this, and had not bothered to tell Danica. The "day" had ended when they both awoke to the sound of their alarm clocks. Time for school.

Chapter 9:A True Fake {Digna}

That little twit! Stand up to me, huh? I was in my car removing the key from the ignition. Let's see where her words take her next time. But I have to plan. I'll avoid her for now. As much as it pains me, I'll be more satisfied after I win with more planning. More pride in more planning. I had a schedule way different than those two losers with the same schedule. They can marry each other and go die with Hades together for all I care. I took a few deep breaths and walked out the car, locking it, to see Rion and his wannabe girlfriend walking through the front gate, the route I usually take. It sickens me every time I see them together. I decided to go through the side gate, the sight still bringing back hatred .

Gladys was still having her dilemma over which nail polish she would wear for the rest of the week, shade #401 or #402. To me it just looked like pink and pink, but I said, "#401. Lighter looks better on you,"

"Really? Thanks. Then I'll use #402," she said as she dropped the pink one into her bag and applied the pink to her fingernails.

"You're such a trickster Gladys," I teased and did my fake laugh. Gladys was too stupid to get the memo.

"It's my specialty."

Lunch was boring, as always. Being able to turn heads everywhere was a curse, no gift included. People only liked you for your face. No one cared if you were evil, they didn't even care if you had a wonderful personality. All they cared about was your face, and occasionally, your cash. Every time someone passed, they looked twice at me; not because I was unusual, but because I was pretty – just because I was pretty. I had to admit, I did always get who I wanted, but there was no one to want so my life was blank.

I looked over at Rion's table. He still had his genuine laugh I remember from when we were younger. I melted every time I heard that laugh, and I still do. He used to always tease me about the smallest things and make them that hilarious inside joke you only have with your closest friends. That was his signature trait, along with his oddly but beautifully colored eyes and his perfect smile. He was someone. He was someone to want. But I couldn't. He liked, no probably loved Danica. She was his everything, he completely loved her company. He was never bored or sad when she was with him. I hated Danica for that. She was so perfect and so… special. It's hard to put in words but, she has something different in her. Something great.

"How does it look?" Gladys was done painting her nails

"Ummm, you should add a couple more coats. It looks cheap and thin. Then add a top coat after it dries so it'll last longer,"

"You're so smart Digna, thankie!" her high-pitched voice was so annoying. Lunch had ended and I just realized that Dino was missing.

The monthly finals were almost here. Only a week left. My team was going to wipeout Danica's because I chose the people I knew best. But honestly, I didn't know how well they swam. I just hoped they wouldn't let me down. After all, they are on my team.

I hated math class. Honestly, it's not because I'm the only blonde-haired person in calculus, but because I would totally roast them if I weren't pretending. I'm not even a real blonde. I have to dye my stupid hair to fit in. I hated playing stupid blonde. I would always act like I didn't hear the teacher, or I didn't know anything. I aced all my tests though, because no one would know my real grades except me and my teacher. I had to play stupid for a reason I can't say. But as my teacher went over the history and importance of calculus, I could think of nothing but Rion.

Honestly, Danica and Rion looked good together. Almost everyone shipped them, except, of course, me, and everyone listens to me. I could easily imagine a bright future for them, but I could see nothing but trouble and tears for Rion and me. Every now and then, when I see Rion from the farthest corner of my eyes, I know his arm is around Danica, but my eyes tell me it's me.

I envied Danica. So nice, so perfect, so special. I was nothing but a fake. A desperate, weak, and pathetic fake. I didn't deserve to be loved. I didn't deserve this wealth. I didn't deserve any friends. I didn't deserve power in any form of society. I didn't even deserve my sad excuse of a beautiful facade. I didn't deserve to be a goddess. I guess I really did deserve this punishment.

Yes, I am a goddess. I guess that explains my beauty and youth. I am a mischievous child, daughter of Hermes and my mother is unknown, although I do know that she was a very jealous woman, and she supposedly died in childbirth. I stole one of Zeus's thunderbolts and hurled it across infinite numbers of universes. I killed and destroyed too much for the gods to just let go. I destroyed millions of planets sustaining life and many more lifeless. Nonetheless, I killed millions of *mostly* innocent creatures. Zeus's first love lived on one of the planets I destroyed, Mantechor, that was only a star away. He hated me so much. My father could do nothing to lighten my punishment.

At first, it sounded like I was being rewarded instead of punished. I mean, Rion was immortal by mutation, and, in the words of the blonde, he was hot. He had the looks, the brains (amazingly), the style, the swagger, and he knew how to love. All I had to do was pretend to be mortal and love him. That sounded a lot easier than it really was. I'm now starting to understand Zeus's choice of punishment. There was a message he wanted me to receive, but it was too strong to just say to me. It was a simple, yet painful message. It was more of a lesson. He wanted me to learn it the way he did. To love and lose.

I had learned it now, but it was too late to go back home. Yes, "too late". I had a chance to go home. Zeus offered me a doorway to go back to my normal life. He assumed I was smart enough to learn my lesson by then if I could slip past all his guards and get a hold of one of his lightning bolts. But I didn't. I was still deeply in love with Rion, although I hadn't said it to him. I refused the one and only offer just to stay with Rion, but it was a mistake. He didn't love me the way I loved him. I wanted to die the moment he told me how he felt. We agreed never to speak of anything that happened between us again, because we were so embarrassed. Everyone who knew us also kept their trap shut, at least that's what I know. I longed for his daily hugs, wrapping me in safety. I felt so safe and so protected, like he loved me. But no, I was just fooling myself. His hugs were just orders from Zeus to deceive me. I know knew how Zeus felt.

I'm sorry. I could nothing to help you that day. That voice. I've heard it somewhere before . It was in my head. Who are you? What are you talking about? No reply came.

Chapter 10:Maybe Now? {Danica}

That night in my dreams was definitely extraordinary. It was more than just weird, or crazy. It was magical. I know it sounds so cliché, but there's no other way to say it. Something happened that night I can't out my finger on. I know that P didn't show up, for some random reason I probably already know. While we were exploring the lakeside, there was a random chasm in the far corner of the scene. When we went to go check it out, I fell in two ways.

I wasn't used to walking or moving in the dress and flats I was wearing. I must've tripped or something, because while we were running for the chasm, I nearly fell in the chasm. I did not fall in the chasm (thanks to Rion), but I fell in something else. I fell in love. He caught by me the waist and nearly slipped in the process. I was so scared in falling that I forgot that even if I did fall, I was in a dream. I hugged and clung to him like a koala as he pulled me away from the chasm. For the first time I could feel my heart pounding. Oh wait, that was his. Why was his heart beating so fast? And so strong?

"Thanks," I said, panting.

"Yeah, uh, don't mention it. Man I'm tired," he lay down on the soft grass underneath us.

"Yeah, me too," I joined him on the grass and added a few clouds in the air so the sun didn't shine so bright.

"You know, I never thought I'd be able to save you without getting myself hurt," he laughed that adorable laugh that was contagious. I had to laugh.

"You know, you didn't have to save me so many times."

"Yeah, but If I just stood there and watched you get hurt, then I'd feel bad. And if you died and I didn't do anything, I could never forgive myself. I mean life is boring here without you. Remember how bored I was when you visited your grandma for the weekend? And that was just the weekend. I was so bored and so sad, it was the longest I went without laughing, and it wasn't fun. Just imagine how much I'd miss you if you died. Or if you had to be confined in a hospital. Urgh, the hospital." He said he'd miss me! AHHHHHH! I could feel my face growing hotter.

"And if you died saving me? How I live? I'd probably just die because of how much I'd miss you," was he blushing? I sat up, propping myself up with my arms.

"Well then we could hang out together in heaven."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"I never thought I'd see you in a dress. It looks good on you. Anything does, really," I was now screaming in my head. Again .

"You never change your clothes do you? Even in your dreams. I've never seen you without jeans, Nikes, or a black jacket. I've never seen you show the slightest bit of skin, besides your face."

"Look who's talking! Like you ever did! Ha!" he was right.

"Look at me right now. What am I wearing? A floral dress and flats," he shut up. I could hear his thoughts, though I didn't think. Oh yeah huh. He obviously didn't know I was listening. She is really pretty though. She's skinnier than I expected, but not too skinny. Just right. She's taller though, and perfectly proportioned. And she does have muscles. But she's not so muscular she looks like a guy.

"Whatever. I'm still stronger than you,"

"Oh I'm sure you have enormous muscles under all that leather," I laughed. What if he was muscular? He'd look pale under his jacket though.

"I do, I just never went out in public without a jacket, like you said. And I am not pale," he retorted. Wait, he had read my mind the whole time! AHHHHHHHHHHH! He started to massage his temples.

"That's the third time you've screamed, stop it!" by this time, I was hyperventilating, he had everything I said from the beginning of my dream. He knew I had fallen in love, he knew what I was thinking, he knew I'd felt his heartbeat, he knew I loved… stop listening to me Rion!

"Okay, okay, geez stop worrying so much, I'll stop. I didn't hear anything important. Now calm down!" I was still freaking out and I didn't move or say anything.

"I didn't hear anything you were thinking, I just heard you scream three times and say 'I hope I'm not blushing'. That's all I heard, I promise! Please, I'm sorry!" he had a scared expression. I could think nothing but so he didn't hear.

I still couldn't move. I was still sitting on the grass propping myself up with my arms. I don't know why I couldn't move. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Was it like a dream glitch? I don't know, but he hugged my tight, tighter than usually did, repeatedly apologizing. For the first time, I felt how strong he was, how well built his frame was, how warm he was, how scared he could be, how much he actually cared despite his teasing. Out of nowhere, I randomly woke up.

I was at home, before school, eating cereal. I blocked Rion's access to my thoughts as I ate. What if he was lying? What if he really did know that I liked him? I shoved another spoonful into my mouth Nah, he would've told me and it would've been awkward last night. Maybe he likes me back? Oh mah ger, what if he does?! If he asks me out, I'll say no, but stay best friends. I mean, what big f a difference does it make? We both liked each other before either of us found out so, I guess. But what if he doesn't? I choked a little and drank some of the milk to wash it down.

Well, I guess it would be ok too, because you can't expect everyone you like to like you back. Like Darrin from fourth grade. He told me he liked me, but I didn't like him back. Now that I think about it, maybe Rion does like me back. I filled my mouth with the remaining Cheerios. I mean, now that I look back, every time I hung out with another guy, he would always act all weird and get mad at me for it. Then forget about it until the next time he saw the guy. I swallowed the mush and downed the milk, finishing off breakfast.

As dad was driving me to school, I opened up my mind again.

"-feel like that?" it was Rion.

"Feel like what? Sorry, I blocked you out until just a few seconds ago. What were you blabbering about again?"

"What? You didn't hear a word I said? Well, thought?"

"All I heard was 'feel like that?'. Why? Was it something important? Interesting? Emotional?" he sighed.

"I see you pulling up," I know he dodged the question, but I don't blame him.

"Really? Where are you, I can't see- oh. I see you. What the heck!" he wasn't wearing his usual white shirt, jacket, jeans and Nikes.

"Is that Rion, Dan?" dad asked.

"Uh huh," I replied, wide eyed and jaw dropped. I stepped out the car, "Bye dad." He drove away, looking back twice.

"What the heck are you wearing?" I said looking at him up and down.

"Well, you made a point last night, and I guess you're right. Like always, genius."

"Ok, I'm cool with that. Let's go, I have late homework to turn in," we walked pass the Specials who made loud side comments about Rion's clothes. Honestly, he didn't look that bad. He was in a really, really tight black tank top and red skinny jeans with blue Vans. The specials were just being the prissy mean girls. I'd like to smack them upside the head and straighten them out. I'd slap all the make-up off their faces, let's see who's ugly. Teach them how to be nice. A warm hand fell on my left shoulder.

"Calm down, it's like you're not used to it," he said. He was right. It was a minor thing; they'd done worse things I cared less about. Why was this ticking me off so bad?

"Yeah, I guess I'm just not right today," I said.

"Ya think?" The rest of our conversation was mental. People we passed by were shocked we weren't talking to each other. I heard a few say, "They probably got into a fight or something."

"You're acting weird today. Like over protective," he smirked.

"Don't feel too special," he sighed.

"Is this because of your dream? Or Digna?"

"Well, I can't keep anything from you anymore, can I? You already know anyways," he did, and he knew it. I felt a little awkward at that moment. He knew, I don't know how, but he knew I liked him.

"Hey, don't feel like-" I cut him off.

"I'm blocking you out now,"

"Dan, please don't-,"

"Don't make this any harder than-,"

"Why are you acting like-,"

"How do you know, why are you listening to everything I think, Why do you keep interrupting me, why didn't you tell me before about you and-"

"Dan will you just listen to me? I already know, so why don't you just-"

That's all I heard. I wanted to cry, but I didn't know why. I tried to hold back my tears but I couldn't. I handed in my late homework and sat at my desk, Rion following right next to me. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know why I was acting like this. Was it like mood swings and puberty? An effect of my eyes? My psychic powers? Probably not, then Rion would've had them too. I don't know why I was like that. It might be because I wanted to tell Digna that I didn't ruin their friendship, and that it was her fault in the first place.

I cried through half the class before I noticed a folded piece of paper under my arm. No doubt it was from Rion. I decided that I couldn't open up mind at the time, so I read it. Are you ok? I felt like there was sarcasm, but he wouldn't use it at a time like this. I replied Yeah I'm fine. I was obvious he didn't believe me. For real, what's the problem? I wanted to tell him so bad, but was it a good time? Nothing really. Really? Was I being serious? He'd crack me open like a nut anyway. I'm serious. Just tell me, you can trust me. Remember? Maybe now? Ok, there's something I've been meaning to tell you. Was I really going through with this? Go on. Okay, just tell him, and it'll be over. I think I like you. Done. Kind of.

Dr. Henson walked over and snatched the note out of my hand before Rion could even open it. He waved it in the air and said, "Class, what is the punishment for passing notes in class?" Everybody said in unison, "If you write it, the whole class reads it."

My heart dropped to my stomach. He was going to read it in front of the whole class, and they would all know that I like Rion. No! I didn't even really want him to know! I got so mad, I stood up, "Don't read it Mr. Henson!" I was surprised at how brave I got. I felt my eyes change, but not before Rion stood up and put his shades over them then sat back down. My fists clenched and my teeth gritted. Man, it was just not my day.

I could feel all the water bottles in the room vibrate and fall to the floor, still vibrating. They collected in a vibrating pile in the middle of the room. But he started reading the note anyway, "Are you okay? Yeah I'm fine…" The water bottles burst open, the water separating from the plastic. The water formed into a mini flowing tower, leaving the plastic bottles that had stopped vibrating. I didn't know what I was doing, but I liked it, "Go on-" Wind rushed into the classroom so fast and strong, it drowned out the last sentence, thankfully. But I couldn't stop, I didn't know how. The water rushed to the note, soaking it and blurring the writing. Everyone (except Rion) started screaming and they tried to go for the door, but it closed and the water locked everyone in. Rion was doing nothing but sitting on the ground, eyes closed. I couldn't move or speak, or help. Do you know how painful it is for me when I can't help?

I was getting dizzy. I saw the other classes banging on the door and yelling. The doorknob wiggled, but it didn't open. The water and air started swirling around the classroom like a hurricane. I heard the screaming stop. I was scared; maybe I had killed everybody. Then everything just froze. Yes, froze. The water was suspended in the air in impossible shapes. The flying papers were still in the air, not moving. They, it, everything was frozen. Even time. How? Wait, Rion?

Chapter 11: Cheating Death and Loving Life {Rion}

She has discovered her power. It was in class. She was just about to tell me her problem. If only I had been faster in opening the note we were passing back and forth. Mr. Henson was about to read the reason when wind and water started hurricaning in the locked classroom. I had to do something. Danica's… emotions were too strong for her to control. I don't know if it was anger, hate, or fear of embarrassment, but I could tell she was trying to stop. I figured it out, she didn't know how to stop.

She wanted to because she didn't want anybody hurt, but she couldn't. She couldn't move or talk either, which was a real inconvenience. I sat down and shut my eyes. Maybe I could try to interfere with the indoor weather. I could feel myself succeeding, but Danica blocked me out earlier so I couldn't deflect her commands. I had to try something else. I could only think of time. So it happened. What happened? Time happened. Time froze. Everything, everyone, time.

I felt so dizzy I wanted to die. Danica finally moved and talked. I felt my nose bleeding slowly, the red blood trickling toward my upper lip. I was finished. I was dying pretty much. The wind dropped itself and the water flowed out the closed window. The door unlocked, but the rest of the people were still frozen. I fell over, eyes still closed. There was practically no way to save me, except to borrow energy from another life form. There was no other life form that could help, but Danica. She wouldn't. Never. There were only two ways to transmit energy; through tight bond contact, or a really big, really long, really boring ceremony we didn't have time or enough people for. Tight bond contact was really the only thing that could save me at that moment.

Tight bond contact isn't like, if she touches my arm, everything is ok. No, it's different. There had to be some sort of contact that sparked strong emotions in the both people participating in the contact. I know it sounds confusing, but it's really simple. It wasn't going to happen though, Danica had to conduct a strong emotional gesture. The strongest are hate, jealousy, and love. I needed one of the strongest ones at that time. Danica had opened her mind again and heard everything I thought. I was in for a big hit.

Oh, she could've been scolding me right then and there if I wasn't dying. I couldn't move, but I could see. Well, it was from the third person's view. Oh no, was I this spirit that had already left my body and was floating into eternity?! No, not yet. She knew I stopped time, she knew I saved everybody, she knew I was dying, and she knew that there was almost no way to save me, but she didn't know that I loved her.

Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was going to live another day. I might be immortal, but even we die. It was too late for talking. I tried to tell her in my last moments that I loved her, but nothing came out of my mouth. I thought it, but she didn't hear it. She was kneeling on the ground cradling my head in her lap. I wish I were still able to tell her. Wait, she was saying something. She was crying, "Oh Rion, I'm so sorry. If only I didn't block you out then you wouldn't have needed to pass that note. Then I wouldn't have replied. Then he wouldn't have read it, then you wouldn't have to be dying. I'm so sorry," she sobbed harder and pressed her forehead into mine. She took the sunglasses off and put them on me. "If you're going to die, I want to see your face like it always was. I'm so sorry. I don't know why I was acting like that."

Her eyes changed back to normal. She hugged me but she was still talking, "I'm so sorry, I wanted to tell you something, but I was too scared. I thought you knew, but you didn't," she cried even harder. She checked for a pulse, but there was none. Then three words came out of my mouth, "Tell me now." They were so weak and soft, I was scared I was actually going to die.

Then she said the most amazing words she ever spoke in her while entire life. The words that gave me hope. The words that kick started my heart.

"Rion Bleudoux, I love you. I don't care if you like someone else, I just want you to know that I love you, even if you'll only know it for a short time. I'm sorry I never told you until now. I'm so sorry Rion, this is how it ends," She hugged me for the last time and cried in the crook of my neck until I was almost dead. Then the most amazing thing happened.

"No, this is not how it ends. I will not let you die sad," then the amazing thing happened. She looked through the sunglasses and into my eyes, when I finally mustered enough strength to open them. She still had tears streaming from her eyes. There, it happened. She pulled me in tight and kissed my cheek. That alone was enough for me to pass out. Then our lips locked.

It was the best feeling in the world. I was dying yes, but the love of my life kissed me. Twice! I couldn't, and even now I can't, explain how happy I was. After so many years of waiting.

Then I felt my heart pounding again. I felt energy flush through me and all my muscles were moving again. I was breathing again. I was alive again. It was a good feeling. It hurt, but in a good way. Like stretching when you're sore. I was happy. I was loved.

I put my arm around her, pulling her in closer. She was still crying, but they were tears of joy now. She broke the kiss, shocked and happy. She smiled so bright, I forgot I was wearing sunglasses, "You're alive! YYYYAAAAYYYYY!" she hugged me even tighter, laughing and planting many more kisses on my face and yelling "You're alive! YAY!". I was truly that happiest person on earth. I turned my head enough so that the last kiss landed on my lips again. Once again, I have cheated Hades happily.

"Be careful, you can control water," I weakly joked. She laughed anyway, wiping her own tears.

I couldn't hold it any longer, I let go of time, but still held Danica. Everyone started moving and screaming again, only to realize that they were saved. Mr. Henson was about to pass out. It was hilarious, but it made me worry. The news spread quicker than electricity. The rest of our classes were filled with questions and answers on the topic. As much as I could, I avoided the "Rionica" (our ship name everyone made) questions. I had to go to Dr. Maims , the nurse, who "diagnosed" me as healthy enough to continue through my classes. I was really happy that day.

Chapter 12: Change {Digna}

It was all over school. The twit and the guy started a hurricane in class and almost killed everyone in that same room. Worse, they kissed. I wanted to go off right then and there when Dino brought me the news between classes. I was in the locker room, heading for the door and adjusting my goggles when she walked into me, apparently doing the same thing. "Watch it, freak!" I said.

"Sor-ry," she replied in a soft, singsong voice.

"You know, I don't hate you as much as I pretend," I couldn't believe I was telling her this! What had gotten into me? Then I realized it was Veritas, deity of truth, making me say these things. By the order of Zeus, of course. Veritas and I were very close. She'd never do something like this.

"What?" she said, in disbelief.

"I don't hate you. I'm just jealous of you," uh oh, I was in trouble. Thankfully Veritas left, but I was still scared. If I told her that I was jealous because Rion loved her, Rion would bring down the hammer on me.

"Jealous? Why?" this was it.

"Be-cause Rion once told me that he would be my best friend for 'ever and ever'. But it didn't happen. I know he told you the same thing, and it's going great for you guys so far," man, lying was hard.

"Yeah, um, about that. You don't have to cover up. I know that you loved Rion but he didn't love you back. And then you guys agreed never to talk about it ever. It's ok, I get it. You don't have to pretend around me,"

"Wh- what? How do you know all this stuff?" I sounded stupid.

"I figured it out," she walked away, leaving me just standing there, bewildered. I went to class with a blank expression for the rest of the day.

Rion must've told her. There's no other way. Everyone else who knew us before Danica hadn't said anything, and it's impossible to figure out. Why would Rion tell her? Maybe it was because my malice turned stronger. Maybe. But I still couldn't get over the fact that they used their powers in public. If he thought that he could be smooth with all the indoor weather, he was very sadly mistaken. P was definitely going to punish him. But I couldn't help but wonder, when was P going to tell Danica? When was she going to finally find out her real life story?

This was honestly not my problem, but there was nothing else to do. Lunch was always so boring and full of nothing. The food wasn't even edible. Vegetables? Salad? Where they trying to kill us? Calling us fat? Then again, it's school. I am watching and protecting you always. That voice again. It was so familiar. I replied back in my head. Who are you?

You will know in proper time, child. No words were exchanged after that. This voice in my head. It was a person. But who?

The police were investigating, but saw no evidence of a prank, or an experiment gone wrong. Eventually, it spread to the news and even the MAYOR was baffled. There were no evidential leads or anything that could prove uncommon or unusual. Eventually, they had to file this case under "unexplained phenomena". All this drama over a love team. Jeez, what is happening to the world?

Right before second semester, AA had a new student. I thought it was Rion, but he dressed a little differently. The new kid trying to make a first impression. Typical struggle. The only thing though, is that it was like he knew what he was doing. Like he'd done it before. I started to take interest after about a week. He reminded me so much about Rion. I tried not to get too involved, remembering what happened last time I loved. But this was different. I didn't even know his name!

Chapter 13: Eyes {P}

Oh great, the lovebirds made a cyclone in a public classroom. Worse, I almost lost another guardian, they didn't erase the witness' memories, and do you know what I get? Paperwork. Lots and lots of godly paperwork. I can't trust Rion with this by himself anymore. All he has to do is protect this mortal for the rest of her life. It's not that hard!

Oh right, and I have to supervise them now. The kid obviously can't handle this much responsibility. Yeah, it's his first mistake, but another one like that, and not only will he be dead, but I will also be deemed responsible for his actions. Unless Hera can convince Zeus to lighten up. Being anonymous is so much work.

You'll eventually find out who I am, but right now, I have to enroll in high school. For the 4th time. I, too, am immortal. I don't know if that Danica is mortal or not, but I know that she has to stay alive. And for Rion, I do feel bad for the kid. He was born a mortal, but he did so many stupid genetic experiments on himself that he eventually found the key to immortality, as far as my sources know. Good thing all his notes got burned during the process, because he's really young and young people can be stupid idiots. You'd be amazed at how idiotic humans can be. Too bad he has to live his immortality protecting special girls. Not special as in mentally, or physically, but I mean like godly worthy.

Oh, I remember the first time I was a freshman. Pretty, popular people separated from the 'losers' by the sad power of judgment. The good times, struggling to try to climb that popularity ladder. Many fall back to the bottom when they're almost there just because of one word, or one small action.

And again, back to school. Hit the books, and bring the swag. Not much harder, Just like everything in life. My life has been so plain. So predictable. I haven't even met the love of my life. I didn't know what it was like to love. I haven't aged at all in the past… hundred years or so. I still look so young (and handsome), like I wasn't even that old. Now, the only problem. How to blend in with the today teenagers. First of all, I want to make the best first impression I could give. This meant too many trips to the mall, and so many gold bars .

About a month later, I had everything planned to the minute. I had everything I needed to get to the top of that ladder. I parked the bright red Cobra-hooded Mustang in the school's parking lot. I took the key out of the ignition, running my hand over the brand new Italian leather seats and felt proud. I was going to make the jocks look like losers this year. I stepped out of the car and shut the door. I grabbed my backpack from the passenger's seat and walked toward the front gate, locking the car behind me.

*sigh* Allen Avery High School. Miss me?

"Oh RIIIIOOOOOOONNNNN!" I called telepathically in the classic singsong tone.

"Easy, easy, P… Jesus, it's like you're not in my head. Where are you anyway?" he replied.

"Turn around genius. And shield your eyes," I walked passed him and down the hall, the big crowd that clogged the hall separated and came together when I passed. I looked stunning. I was wearing heavily painted silver and green Jays with A look that made me look like Rion's brother. I was in a red shirt that was really tight and showed the indents of my muscles, (although they didn't rival Rion's) and a leather maroon jacket with the collar down. You can't over do anything with skinny jeans and dark sunglasses. I heard remarks come from people, "Hey Rion," and some said, "Who's the new guy?" This was my first impression. My signature first impression. Something felt different about the school. It made me feel secure to have my secret weapon hidden in the rubber of my shoes. Two click weapons actually, one in each shoe. Easy access equals no stress .

"I don't see any loser walking up to me yet. Seriously, where are you?" ha ha ha, smart. He must've felt like an idiot what Danica walked up to him. He turned a bright red, he was thinking it.

"How about now, smartie?" I had to, it was hilarious.

I passed the natural order of people: the geeks, the dorks (BIG difference), the smart but popular people, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the popular kids, and the classic white girl trio, the most powerful of the social classes. It's amazing how much adults don't know about social life. I made my way to my first class. I heard the troublemakers make it into the classroom before the bell rings, you know, to cause trouble. I wanted to get in the good with them first. If you didn't, they'd prank you first and make your first day of school your death date.

Naturally, they were there, planning. They stopped when I walked in and took a seat in the far corner of the classroom. I knew nobody ever sit in the far corner, it wasn't near all the good people. They all walked over and posed themselves around me. One leaning on the front of my desk, one sitting in the desk next to me, and the others were just surrounding me. They were all guys. They dressed pretty much the same. Like I did, except they weren't as muscular or as tall. All of them were wearing letterman jackets, various colors.

"You the new kid?" said the 'leader', or the one leaning on my desk.

"Yeah," I wasn't sure if I would use sarcasm, so I stuck with low key. They all snickered.

"Mind if we ask you a couple questions?" whispered a really pretty girl into my ear. I never noticed her. She had a sweet voice that wasn't too high or too low. She came from behind me. She had natural red hair with a few subtle, but pretty bright red highlights . She had an oddly foreign or exotic look to her. She seemed purely American, but there was something about her that spelled out Greek. Maybe it was her olive skin, but I couldn't be sure. Besides that, she seemed pretty much like Danica.

"Ask away," I sat back in my chair, chewing my gum like a cool kid.

"What do you think of the girls at this school?" It was the leader again.

"Depends on which one's you're talking about. The prissy girls are pretty, but I like the smarter dark haired ones better," I had to ask myself if that was the right answer. According to the pink in the girl's face, it had to be. Unless it was makeup.

"Perfect. What color are my eyes?" the girl leaned in closer than I expected her to. Our faces almost touched and I could feel my breathing hitting her. I didn't feel any air from her though. I was surprisingly not uncomfortable. Her eyes had dark pupils surrounded by a rich and heavy color that looked like blue. No, violet? Some green in there? Red tint? Hint of yellow? I honestly didn't know.

Out of nowhere I said, "Beautiful." They laughed at me, but not like bullies. Like your best friend laughing at a shirt or something. I could feel the blood rushing to my face. I looked down to distract everyone from my blush. Was she blushing too? She turned away before I could make sure.

"Okay, you're a funny guy. Last question. How good are you at defense?" was that a trick question? I was amazing! I could take down a Cyclops, a Minotaur, and a hellhound with my eyes closed and both my hands and feet bound, blindfolded. But, I had to stick to my first choice of façade, low key.

"I'm not sure. How about you test me?"

"Ohh, you gotta test him now, Onyx!" I assumed that was the guy sitting in the desk. I couldn't quite see, the other guys were surrounding me still.

"Alright then. Ieo, would you please?" I assumed that was the girl's name, as she stepped forward and brought me to my feet. (uy-ow)

"Let's go to the field, or the court. We'll have more space there." She led everyone to the football field, dragging me along.

"Okay, so whose hits will I be blocking?" I turned to them and they all looked at Ieo.

"I guess I am," she tied her hair up quickly and took her jacket off, tossing it to the ground. I knew I was in trouble. I couldn't hit this angel!

You're in trouble, aren't you? It was Rion again. I saw him across the field with Danica, camera in hand, She's hot, isn't she? He laughed. Dang it.

"Alright, ready?" she was in that boxer poise. It would be easy blocking her hits, but not so easy to concentrate.

"Ready," I answered, copying her stance. This, by far, was the hardest fight ever. She turned halfway and kicked out nearly hitting my face. I almost fell back. She came at me with a pretty neat combo next. Right hook, left uppercut, right across, left elbow hook, right elbow uppercut, left knee kick, and she ended it with a half turn kick. She landed all her punches in my open hands and her knee kick almost hit my where no guy wants to be hit. She was very talented. Silent, fast, and accurate- the most unlikely combination. She did a few jabs and sparring combinations with kicks of every kind. You know, she was doing the simple stuff. She was getting tired. That's my technique. Wear out the enemy and bring them down. Blocking he hits was easy. I just had to let my palms and torso take all the strength from her hits. Somehow, she hit my elbow in the sensitive spot where it shot pain down my forearm to my ring and last finger. In her half turn kick, I caught her foot and pushed it away, making her do a front flip, grabbing my foot and bringing me to the ground while she landed on her feet. I was on the ground, struggling to fully turn to each side and block her punches. Each one hit the ground hard.

I got up to my feet and grabbed her leg, bringing her to the ground. She twisted and I had to let go of her foot if I didn't want to break it. She got up and threw a pretty straight forward punch at me. I leaned far to the side while she was delivering that punch and propelled her arm forward with my left hand, keeping a firm hold on her hand and bringing it behind her back in an arm lock. I brought my right arm around her neck, trying to be careful not to strangle her too much. I crossed my right leg over both of hers' so she couldn't kick me. Then I brought her down, leaning in toward her face, closer than we were in the classroom. I almost touched her face with mine. I could tell she was trying to find my eyes through the sunglasses.

"Alright! You beat Ieo! Well done," called out Onyx. Dang, he just had to interrupt. Aww, so close! Ha. Oh I wish he'd shut up. Heard that. Urgh. The bell rang and everyone was flooding the halls.

"Aww, we'll never get to class on time. The halls are packed, and no one's moving!" Onyx shouted. Could I walk through the crowd again like I did earlier? Now's a time as good as any. I grabbed Ieo's hand and pulled her through the crowd. It did separate and come back together like earlier. Weird. Anyways, we made to class on time.

Ohh, P get it. She likes you man. You should ask her out. I could hear his laugh in his head. I replied,

You should ask Dan out too. I mean, you two clearly love each other. Ieo and I just met like an hour ago. Besides, I swore to Hera that I wouldn't date if I didn't love. Did he block me out? I've kept that promise for infinities.

Yeah yeah yeah. It only takes a moment to fall in love P. Only a moment. Wait a little before you ask her out. And by the way, her name's Iedoun. Ee-oh-don. Don't call her by her full name though. It's a major female turn off. He thought he was the genius.

Rion, I think you're forgetting that you're just repeating what I taught you. I know all this stuff already. By the way, when do you want to tell Dan her story?

Next week. She has the monthly in a few days so I don't want to stress her out. And she should at least know who you are before you come into her dream. And uh, thanks for not showing up the other night. I appreciate it.

No problem. And remember that mix you made me listen to a long time ago?

Yeah. Why?

Is that what you listen to now? Like, is that what you teens listen to. I've been in the Olympus Office for too long. It's been a while since I've been out of the office.

Pretty much. I could mix more music if you want. And put it in an iPod for you.

Sure but uh, could you alter the frequency. I don't want to actually listen to it, I just want to blend in.

Sure no problem. Blocking you out now, Dan wants to talk. Later.

I was so busy worrying about how to blend in, I didn't notice Ieo staring at me. She was good though. Every time I looked at her, it would seem as though she didn't turn her head. Her hair, however, motioned that she was facing my direction. There was no one behind me, so she was definitely looking at me. I forgot I was wearing shades, "Excuse me, yes you, the new student. Would you mind taking off your glasses?" Oh great. I had to change my eyes fast. Did I mention that the eyes of some immortals change color and style etc. very frequently? No, well it happens. Changing them to regular eyes are the hardest. I had to though. I took my sunglasses off and a simultaneous gasping came from the class. I didn't know if I could change them to my natural eye color in time, so I stopped trying. I let the color match my emotions. They turned sea green. Freaking sea green. It was not a natural eye color!

"Oh my god he has beautiful eyes," I heard Ieo whisper under her breath.

"My, my, Mr…" he gestured to me to fill in the blank.

"Hilt, Gavin Hilt," REALLY?! Gavin Hilt was the best I could come up with?

"You have quite a strange eye color." Nah, you don't say?

"Yes sir, it changes all the time." What was I saying!

"Changes? You mean like a trick of the light? To your emotions?" He and the class looked so intrigued. Ieo especially.

"I control the color. I change it as I please," I said, changing it to a pretty blue.

"Well, that is absolutely amazing. Since this is biology, and we only have fifteen more minutes of the period left, is it okay if I have to class ask you questions?" Fine by me.

"Sure." The first question came from a blond in a blue dress with so much make up on her face I thought she was a clown.

"What colors can you change your eyes into?" Good question.

"I can change into any color and color combination," another wave of gasps.

"How fast can you change the color?" asked a kid with headphones around his neck.

"Have any mixes on your iPod? Play one," the song was like Skrillex, David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Avicii on the same track. The beats came through fast and smooth. Every change in frequency was a different color, my eyes flashing as fast as the tenths of a second flash on a timer.

"Oh my gosh, that's so cool. How do you do it?" huh, how was I going to answer this question?

"It's like rolling your tongue." Ieo asked the next question.

"That's so cool. Can you copy eye colors?" I changed my eye color to hers. "Dang," she said leaning in to have a closer look, like she was inspecting my eyes carefully, "And I thought my eyes were amazing," she stepped back.

"They still are," we both smiled, my eyes turning pink. Strange, they never changed that color before. What was this new emotion? The class laughed, but I held my gaze and smile with Ieo. Was she blushing again?

"What's your favorite eye color?" came from Onyx.

"Hers," was the word that slipped out of my mouth without me knowing.

"Do you like Ieo?" came from one of the guys surrounding me earlier. She broke away from the gaze and slapped the guy in the arm, "Ow!"

She turned to me and said, "Don't feel like you have to answer that." I could do nothing but laugh then I resumed answering questions for the rest of the period, and pretty much the rest of the day. But that one question that guy asked me. I didn't even know the answer. Each class went like something about the glasses then it escalated to my eye color. What a great first day.

Chapter 14: Rival or Remake? {Danica}

I was in bed thinking about school. So the new kid can change his eye color, huh? Well I can read minds, block my mind, enter dreams, and my eyes change too, just not the way his does. But they still change. There was something wrong though. Besides the fact that he could change his eye color as he pleases, he seemed just like Rion. The hair, the clothes, the muscles, the height, and even the voice was exactly like Rion. There was something in the air around him. I felt strangled every time he was near me. Something wasn't right with this Gavin Hilt. Something special, like Rion and me. But different.

It's not what you think Dan. Came Rion in her head. He's immortal like us, but we're different from him. Like a different breed of immortal. I don't have time to explain it right now. He knows us though. So you don't have to pretend around him. You can talk to him if I block you out.

But why can he change his eye color? And how does he know us? And when did you ever block me out? I replied.

He was sent to serve as extra protection over you. And his eyes don't just change color. They change material too. Have you ever seen him change it to sand? Or animal print? It changes material. The only thing he can't change is his pupil. So if you ask him to change it to gold, it'll turn into real gold. But there's one material your powers can't penetrate. You know how you can read someone's mind by looking deep in their eyes? Well he can change his eyes into a material that blocks you from reading his thoughts. It's called Archxiton. It's a really weird but cool colored material.

Oh, ok. What color is Archxiton? And can we go talk to him tomorrow? I want to ask him about P. When can you tell me the truth? I don't mean it in a harsh way, but you know what I mean. I want to know my real life story. There was a long pause in the conversation. I heard him thinking about which pj's he was going to wear. I think I laughed in my mind.

What are you laugh- never mind. You have that convo with yourself all the time. Don't act like you don't. I'll tell you when P can come into your dream. I won't be at school tomorrow; I have a doctor's appointment. So you can hang out with Gavin tomorrow. You know, question him, have mind conversations, pretend like he's me, etcetera, etcetera. It won't be so different anyway. I mean, he's like my twin. Like a replica of me.

You two are soooooo different, he had amazing eyes and you have the power to annoy anyone you want. I snickered and heard him mock me.

Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe it will be different tomorrow. I mean, there won't be anyone to annoy you anymore. And annoying? Really, that must be your worst comeback ever. And I do to have amazing eyes. You've just never seen them. How was I going to respond to this?

You are annoying. And your eyes don't change like his. And I have too seen your eyes! They're just regular brown. If you ask me, he has more pros than you do. And I can't pretend like he's you. I felt his heart lighten up a bit.

Oh, I see. I'm the most annoying, plain, ordinary, and stupid person that exists in the whole world. And my eyes aren't brown. I felt him laugh a little at his own sarcastic joke. But this is what you fell in love with, so what does that make you? And why can't you pretend like he's me? Was I really going to answer that? Of course I was.

I can't pretend like he's you because I don't love him. Besides, you're really fortunate to have someone like ME fall for you. I mean, I could've fallen for a jock or even Gavin, but NOOOO, I chose you. So feel special Rion. I felt him smile and soften up. I heard the remnant of a silent and short celebration because if my last remarks. Not too special.

Yeah yeah yeah, Dan mock me all you want. I'll miss you tomorrow, though. That was the first time you said that you loved me. Well, besides the time I almost DIED because of you. You don't have to pretend anymore. I know you just did that so I would live. You would never fall in love with me. I mean, you're my best friend. Wait…you could've fallen for Gavin?

Ouch, that hurt. But I wasn't lying. I did that because I really do love you. I thought you were dying on me, so you know, Yolo. I mean, I don't want things to get awkward between you and me, okay? I don't want to be those two people who said that they'd be best friends forever and end up not being friends anymore because one likes the other, but they don't feel the same way. Wait, was he snoring? What the heck? He didn't hear a word I said. He just finished talking, blocked me out, and fell asleep. Wow. But I loved him like that. I went to sleep and when I entered his dream, I was shocked.

His scenario was in my bedroom. My bedroom. I was standing behind a desk I had in my room. He was sitting in my bed, wearing his usual clothes, but without the jacket. He kicked his shoes off earlier and was wearing black socks. He was looking in a photo album I gave to him for his birthday a few years back. It somehow had recent pictures of me, but then again, it was a dream.

This was weird as it already was. Rion was in my bedroom. But it got weirder. Rion was doing a thing I'd never seen him do ever in my life.

He was crying. The sunglasses didn't interfere with his tears that were streaming down his face. I didn't really want him to see me just yet. I crouched down behind the desk in my room before he flicked his head in my direction. He was looking at my pictures and crying. But why? He threw the album to the floor near me in frustration. And lay down and sank into the red covers. A piece of paper fell out of the album close to me. Checking if he was looking, which he wasn't, I took the piece of paper and opened it. It read:

She was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. I just lay my eyes on her and… BOOM! Fireworks, sparks, and everything in that category. I knew that at that moment, I had fallen in love. It sounds cliché, but being in love really does make you do stupid things. But it feels good. It's like your crush liking you back, except she doesn't like me back. Today, I helped her stop an accidental command she couldn't withdraw. It hurt, but I knew that if I died saving her, I'd die happy.

I literally felt the life being sucked out of me. Blood was flowing out of my nose, my heart wasn't beating, but in those moments of hurting, she said she loved me. Imagine that, the girl I've been loving for so long finally loves me back. At least she loved me right? Even if it was only a few short moments. I still believed that she loved me. She told me that she loved me in my last few breaths. And we kissed too! I felt the blood running again, the air back in the building, and the feeling of life. After that day, I was so happy. But then I remembered that she was able to read my mind, and I bet she was doing so while I was figuring out my situation. So she didn't love me after all. I was soaked in quiet tears by then. He didn't believe that I loved him. It DID hurt. I read on. I fell apart when the thought entered my mind. I tried not to believe it at first, but then I started to consider it. She couldn't have been lying, she kissed me. She wouldn't have if she was pretending. But it kept occurring to me that she read my mind and was doing it so I wouldn't die. She only liked me as her best friend. Then all of a sudden, it was true. It hurt to find out that the love of your life doesn't like you back. My words only carry me so far. This entry ends here.

I was crying my eyes out at the probable journal entry. Why didn't he tell me that he kept a journal? It was amazing. He kept the old pictures of us in an album and added to it regularly. If I stared from the beginning of the album to the end, I would've seen my transformation from kindergarten to now. I couldn't take it anymore.

I came out of my hiding spot and ran up to my bed. I was still crying hard. I lifted the covers joined him under the sheet and hugged him again. It took him a while to realize it was me. He was also still crying.

"Dan? How did you-" I cut him off waving the piece of paper in front of his face. I let go of him and exited the pile of sheets and covers. I was about to leave when he came out of the pile asking me to stop and wait for him to explain. I waited until he composed himself enough. I didn't bother. My hair was messy and my eyes were streaked with tears. I could've been crying blood if it were only possible.

I started yelling at him and trying to hit him. He was gripping my wrists and trying to calm me down. Tears flowed out my eyes as I tried landing hits on him. He was strong, but gentle. I finally stopped and sat on the floor where I was standing, still crying my eyes out.

"How could you?! If there was something bothering you, you could've just come up to me and said it to my face! You once told me that whenever one of had a problem we would talk about it. Why didn't you ever say that you doubted me?! Do you know how much it hurts?! You said that you'd never doubt me! Why didn't you tell me!?" I shouted while crying. After a while if trying to hit him to no avail, I stopped crying.

"Oh, no. don't tell me you were furious while you were crying. Please tell me you weren't fuming. I don't mind if you'll never talk to me again, just please stop being mad at me! It's very dangerous!" he said.

I decided that if he cared so much as to write down his feelings for me, he cared enough to at least tell me the truth. I calmed down, fixing my appearance. "I'm just hurt, not mad," I mentally repeated. Then I cleared my throat and spoke.

"Why did you doubt my words?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"Because it couldn't escape my mind that you're my best friend and I didn't even know if you saw me like that, so I was thinking 'what other possibilities are there?' you know? It just occurred to me that it was unlikely you would fall for someone like me. Especially with people like Onyx and the jocks around. I just thought that I wouldn't be your first choice. So when I was dying the other day, I remembered that you could read my mind so I thought that you were just saying that you loved me so I wouldn't die. I'm sorry."

"So why didn't you just say it to me? I get that you were doubtful, but I don't get why you waited this long to say it to my face. Did you ever ask yourself why I saved you? Why I didn't want you to die? Why the Tight Bond Contact worked? Strong emotions have to happen in ALL participants of the conduct. That means me too. That proves that my emotions were true and real." I could tell he gave it some serious thought on the spot.

"I never really gave it deep thought. It hurt too much to think about. I'm sorry. I understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore. Good night," he said. I felt guilty. I understood now that I heard both sides of the story. See, this is what happens when you have a problem with someone and you don't tell it to their face right away. It's miscommunication. You don't hear the other person's side until you actually talk to them, which you don't do if you're too busy trying to avoid them . He walked toward my bed and just fell face forward into the pile of sheets. He did this only twice in his life. He was really depressed. Dang it, I couldn't stand seeing him like this. "Goodnight Rion."

I made a sound so he thought I left his dream. I tiptoed to him and hugged him from behind while he was still face down. My arms wrapped around his stomach, which was rock hard. Then again, it was a dream; anything could've happened. I let a tears fall from my eyes. I forgot everything that just happened.

He brought his arms behind him and helped me up. He sat in the edge of the bed and said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I know I should've, but I didn't know if you were-"

I cut him off. Again. He was too cute and it showed that he regret what he did. He deserved that kiss we were having at that moment. Besides, you like the guy, what the heck? Didn't want that kiss to end, after all it was our first official kiss. All of a sudden, we both woke up at the same time, and neither of us had a reason to. What woke us up? Did you wake up first? He asked in my head.

No, I thought you woke up and kicked me out of your dream.

Well, I didn't. I mean, I liked what was happening. I felt the corners of his mouth pull up onto a sly smile.

Yeah yeah, but what woke us up? I mean, it couldn't have been my clock, and it wasn't random because we both woke up at the same time. I feel like it was a someone. I don't know why, I just have this feeling. What were you saying about it being dangerous to cry and be furious at the same time?

You're right, I was thinking the same thing. Well, we can't do anything about that now. If you cry Tears of Hate, it gives you an ability that is an excellent combat advantage, but it makes your heart dark and cold. It works faster if your element is water, and slower if it's fire. Yours is definitely water. Back to our dreams?

Sure. Now, nothing bad happened. Only thing that happened is that we were kissing and talking and hugging, and talking and asking and answering. That's pretty much all that happened that night. What was the elements thing? If it worked at different paces for different elements, than there would be more than just two elements.

Chapter 15: Iron Prison {Gavin}

Another day. I'd have to hang out with Danica for the most of today, since Rion wasn't at school and he told me about what was going on last night. Today was the monthly finals and it was also the day we were planning to tell Dan her story. Through the classes, I received a series of hi's and a collection of phone numbers. Barely a week and people already wanted to be my girlfriend. I. Am. Amazing.

The finals started at five and Rion was able to come. Danica was talking to her teammates about their plan. The announcer made a half-hour speech about the game. To summarize what she said, it was a relay. The fastest team wins, but that fastest swimmers will be recognized regardless if their team wins or loses. Each swimmer will be timed, and the team with the fastest combined time wins. Jeez, half an hour to explain three sentences. I had absolutely no idea that Ieo swam for AA. I wanted to root for Danica, but Ieo was on the opposing team. Who was I going to cheer for? Go ahead, cheer for Ieo. I can cheer for Dan. Came that annoying voice again. I replied, Okay. Where are you? Looking around, I didn't find him. I felt a hand over my shoulder. Rion. Right behind me, where I'd never look. I knew that he'd be in the most unlikely place. That was my weakness. The first swimmer was about to start swimming, when the water started to look a little different. It wasn't too noticeable, so it was reasonable that no one else saw. It seemed to have faint, dark swirls in the water. Like drops of watercolor were sprinkled on the surface of the pool. Like food coloring dripping in water then slowly dissipating. When the dark substance hit the bottom of the pool, it disappeared. Did you see that? I asked Rion mentally.

Yeah. What do you think it is? He replied.

I'm not sure. Let's go check out the main water tank in the basement. I suggested.

But what about our girls? Who'll cheer them on?

The rest of the school will. It's not like they'll really search the stands for us. And we won't even be that long. Danica and Ieo are swimming the tail of the team.

Ok, let's go. Block Dan out first. I'll do the same. They don't need to know.

Or, I can use Archxiton.

Oh, right. You do that. I'll block her out.

The first swimmer entered the pool with no absurdities. We left the stands and snuck into the basement. The locks weren't even locked. The locks were very hefty, but what use are they if they aren't even locked? The door was pretty heavy too. It took both Rion's and my amazing muscles to move the door.

We were pushing the door for at least 15 minutes before it opened up about a foot of space. When we opened it enough, we saw how thick the door was. Immediately, I felt that there was something very wrong. I could tell Rion felt it too; I didn't bother to ask anything. I changed my eyes to magnetic material and moved a little closer to the side of the door, being careful not to get too close. I stepped away as soon as I felt a slight pull. "That's a door made of iron. It's a full foot thick. But it can't be a door. It has no hinges," I said after I changed my eyes to a 'normal' color again, at least as normal as my eye color can get, "There's a couple engravings right here." They were in Japanese. It read Beyond the Iron Shield lies the dread of a dead nation. -D

"So it's the Iron Shield. Sounds familiar, but I can't remember where I heard of it before. Do you remember anything about the Iron Shield? " he asked.

"I don't remember either, but I know that we learned about it in the Academy before. That's probably where we've heard of it. There's definitely something dangerous beyond it," I said. The basement past the door was dark. The only light we had was the luminescence of the material I had changed my eyes into, and the light from Rion's phone.

It was actually not that easy to navigate the enormous room, especially since we both forgot where the iron slab was. We decided that we were looking for anything living or anything polluting the water supply. The room was empty except for a dirty white cloth that was hanging on the left wall when we walked in. While we were 'looking', although it isn't really looking if you can't see, it kept entering my mind that something was trying to pollute my mind and heart. It's like something was trying to take control over my mind and use my physical form for something other than what I wanted to do. I changed my eyes to Archxiton, which helped a little bit.

"Are you feeling anything, Rion?" I asked the darkness. I thought I'd lost him, but then I saw a small white rectangle move with absolutely no direction. It seemed lost and frustrated. No doubt it was Rion trying to find me. He probably couldn't see me since my eyes no longer glowed.

"Something's trying to take control of me. I can feel it pushing the good will out. Are you getting that too? Where are you?" he replied, still trying to find me.

"Yeah, it's probably that 'dread' of the dead nation trying to get us. Don't let it win, and put this on," I said, giving him a black and heavy ring with golden inscriptions on it. It was also made of Archxiton, but I didn't know if it would help.

"We need to find whatever was in the water. I can feel Danica already getting suspicious. She's considering finding us instead of swimming. We need to go the main water supply now," he suggested. I could feel the urgency in his voice. We looked for another door, since the first room had nothing in it besides darkness. We found a square opening in one of the far corners. It was like the bottom half of a door. Rion could barely fit through the opening, since he was slightly bigger than I was, but I was a little taller and skinnier.

The opening led to another large and dark room, but this second room was smaller. We first went around the perimeter of the room and found nothing. The walls were smooth and cool. At first it felt like very, very smooth and fine concrete, but as time went on and my senses dulled, it started to feel like glass. We walked around the room over and over again, every inch of the smooth walls. Every now and then, I felt like I was walking and searching in one of the walls, against the law of gravity.

"I think we should go back. It's been… five minutes!" Rion exclaimed.

"What? Only five?! Are you sure, is your phone broken?" How could that be only five minutes? And where was the small opening we came through?

"My phone is perfectly fine. And if you haven't noticed, we've been trapped in, the opening is gone, I have no idea where we are, time has stopped, I don't even know why we're here, our senses are dulling, and for all we know, our girls have drowned in whatever kind of water is in that pool," he panicked.

"I get it now," I said.

I really did. The Iron Shield. The Dead nation. The prison of Jala. Jala was the great monster that destroyed the strong empire of Rhordoux. Rhordoux rivaled Olympus at one point in time, when Olympus was ages and ages old, but still going strong, Rhordoux was established and they had very equal power. Hermes hated Rhordoux. They made the gods overwork the others in the battle against Rhordoux for the title of the most powerful empire. Hermes didn't want to anger the gods by telling them that he was tired. Instead, he told his wife and it is told that his wife grew so mad and so powerful that after she gave birth to their child, she became the frightening monster that rivaled Medusa. She destroyed Rhordoux through a series of mind controlling and possession techniques. We think that her emotions gave her enough power to obtain these powers.

The fall of Rhordoux made Zeus realize what had happened and took it upon himself to try and save as many people from the nation. He also didn't want to kill Jala, so he imprisoned her in iron, the only material, along with Archxiton, that can block out her powers.

Her prison was an iron labyrinth of elaborate hallways that changed and defied the laws of logic, time, physics, science, sense, and everything in between. Each room, once entered, held only two exits. The physical one, which took lots of time, concentration, and sanity from one person to figure out. It took Jala ages to escape one room.

The other exit is death, which is almost always an option . From the day she was imprisoned, she now only wanted to destroy and conquer. She lay dormant, and so people say she died, but held her life for the time when she will escape the prison and destroy more. Zeus did not want to kill Jala, as Hermes would become upset, and might turn against Olympus, so he declared that whoever kills Jala and escapes the Iron Shield alive, will be given a special gift . So the Iron Shield kept her from possessing and controlling any living thing while she tried to decipher the pattern in her prison. One good thing, if you aren't Jala, then you only need to escape one room and you're free. It is said that even in her iron prison, she looks over her daughter and cannot bear to part too far from her for too long .

There was no way we were going to escape this hell. Jala could be anywhere. She would keep trying to take over us, but the Archxiton would block her out for the most part. How were we going to get out of here? There were some carvings on the walls of whatever material.

"What do you get?" I forgot I was still talking to Rion.

"We're in Jala's prison. The Iron Shield? Rhordoux? Do you remember now?" I told him. Even though I couldn't see it, I could tell he went pale.

"How are we going to get out of here?" he asked after he absorbed the information.

"We're going to escape. We're going to find the Iron Shield and get out of here, okay? We won't let Jala get the best of us," I tried shaking the sense into him as I said those words.

"We're not going to escape Gavin. Jala has been here for countless eternities. Do you really think we're going to get out of here before we die? We don't even know where we are, or which room we're in-" I cut him off. Poor guy, always getting cut off.

"What do you mean which room we're in?" I asked.

"Umm… let me remember…. It's been a long time since I remembered anything…. Umm … oh yeah, there were three types of rooms. Time, Gravity, and one I don't remember the name of. It would help a lot if we figured out what kind of room we're in."

"I'll go that way, and you go that way. We'll just meet up … over there by the… thing… Which way did you say we were going again?" Something is definitely wrong. I felt Danica say. She couldn't access Rion's or my thoughts, but we could hear hers. The voice full of worry.

"Let's just search the room and meet up… where ever," Rion said.

We split up, looking for anything in the room. I discovered that we could walk on the walls and ceilings , as if it were just the ground. In the walls and ceilings, all I found were runes. The symbols read Sleep eternally to find your way out. –D

After hours, or what would've been hours, of searching, we found each other in some random place in the room.

"I found some runes earlier. Did you find anything?" I asked.

"No, but what did the runes say?"

"They said 'Sleep eternally to find your way out'. So I'm guessing it was referring to the always-option, death. What do you think it means?"

"Let me think… we should just sleep," he said after a lot of thinking.

"Are you crazy?! You're just suggesting to sleep eternally, meaning forever. In other words, dying," I said.

"Yeah, but we're immortal. If we die in our sleep, we'll just end up at Olympus again, or just outside the Iron Shield. You don't know what this box can do. Besides, that could indicate what kind of room this is." He had a point. But what if it wasn't what he thought it was? What would happen to him? Me? Us? Dan and Ieo?

Going to sleep was going to be the last thing I was going to do.

"But we won't go to sleep now. It'll be our last resort. We'll keep searching the room until we absolutely have to close our eyes. I mean, what if you're wrong? Agreed?" It took him some time to think it over.

"Okay, but look for any more carvings, or another light source, or something useful. And keep your ears open for Jala," he finally said.

"Yeah, whatever you do, do not open up your mind. Keep it blocked. Unless you want to be possessed by Jala and have a hand in destroying everything."

We searched and searched until we were so weak and out of it we almost forgot who we were and what the situation was.

"I'm about ready to die," Rion broke the silence

"See you on the other side buddy. I just want to try and maybe find the way out. You know, be the first person to escape Jala's Prison. Alive," I joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Then I'll live as long as I can. Whoa…" the room began to quake and spin in every direction.

"What's going on?!" I shouted. The room stopped moving. There was now a large glass cylinder in the center of the room that reached from the ceiling to the floor. It was black. All black. Or maybe it was just very clouded. Then I saw two green eyes. Two glowing green eyes in the black cylinder. It couldn't have been the reflection of my eyes, they were Archxiton. Then I saw the whole face. It had green skin, and a, evil grin with sharp, long teeth. They were made for destroying and killing.

"Oh no… Jala found us…"

Chapter 16: The Wake of Jala {Rion}

"What do we do?! I don't want to die!" I yelled.

"We fight!" said Gavin, pulling two pens from each of his shoes. He handed me a pen. A pen. We were going to die. The pens were heavy and dark colored with odd golden inscriptions. It looked as if it could be a language, but not one I could decipher.

"What is this?" I asked, referring to the pen, "What am I going to do with a pen against… that?"

"Click it Bleudoux," he said. I heard the pen click and the sound of a sword unsheathing itself. I clicked mine, but it didn't become a sword. It became a shield. The shield was round and at least a couple inches thick.

"That's so cool," I said, and then I began to see the actual shield. I was seeing it in very low light. But we had no light. I turned to the cylinder. Jala's face was now on top of her hideous body. She was glowing an eerie green.

"So that's where the light was coming from," Gavin said. It looked like a skinny, green version of Ursula. The tentacles slammed on the glass, slowly breaking it. The green body was covered with millions of small, iridescent scales. It was like Medusa and Ursula in one.

"How do we kill it?!" I yelled, as Jala broke free from the cylinder. She emitted a shrill note that nearly made me deaf.

"The hair of Medusa. Features of Ursula. Eyes don't turn you to stone. No powers to control anything physical. Cut the head off!" Gavin yelled.

Jala disappeared. Well, turned invisible. We had no idea where she was. I saw Gavin just fly across the room and hit the wall. I assumed Jala swung one of her enormous tentacles. Gavin swung his sword in a random direction and I saw something red. Blood. He cut off one of her tentacles. As soon as he cut it, it became visible and once it hit the ground, it disintegrated and disappeared, leaving some Black fog before also disappearing.

Another high-pitched screech came from Jala. It sounded like it came from the right side of the room, so I swung my shield against whatever could be in that direction. Gavin realizes what I'm doing and copies my actions, but landing more hits and cutting off more tentacles. She kept swinging her tentacles and knocking us against the walls that we didn't even step away from the walls anymore. The shield was a good weapon for me. I could block the worst of Jala's hits, and cut off some tentacles with the edge of the shield.

After a while of deafening cries and thrashing at nothing, Jala has lost too many tentacles to stay invisible. The room lights up, but we see no light source. I realized that the ring had stung me with something. It was a small dose of a sight enhancer called Noxin. I saw Gavin sting himself with the bottom of his sword's hilt.

Jala shape-shifted into a serpent. Her body was the same, except in instead of a set of tentacles, she had a tail like a snake.

She writhed and shrieked. I closed my eyes and cupped my hands over my ears. I saw Gavin do the same. She was conducting the Overpower, her strongest attack. She'd scream and writhe to deafen you the lunge at someone and kill them. Her screams were so powerful, Gavin's eyes could not remain Archxiton, as his eyes would bleed if he did. The ring lost its power as Jala screamed. I could feel her trying to sink into my mind. I could not let her in. I had Danica to look after.

When I was certain I was deaf, I got up and saw Gavin trying to fend off Jala with his sword. She was trying to bite him. Gavin made cuts, but they healed almost instantly. Her rage and impatience was strengthening her abilities. Her eyes, now bloodshot with anger, turned all black. It was almost finished. She would lunge at me, as she always lunges toward the other person during the Overpower.

I scrambled to the nearest corner and pulled the shield as close I could, so it touched all three walls of the room and cornered me safely. I heard her scales hastily scrape against the concrete or glass or whatever. The sounds were getting closer. When I was sure that she would slam into the shield, I was hearing again. I heard Gavin yelling, "Now Rion!"

I got up and mustered all the strength I still had. Gavin had stabbed Jala's tail, pinning her to the ground and keeping her in one place. She writhed and screeched in her position. I hoisted the shield above my head and brought it down hard on the gorgon's neck. A few seconds of quieter, but still high-pitched screams, and it was silent. The corpse disappeared into tendrils of black smoke.

"Good job," Gavin said, panting.

"Thanks," I replied.

"Should we sleep now?"

"Well, we have no other option. See you on the other side buddy," I said. And with that, we each found our own corners and slept.

Chapter 17: The Results {Narrator}

Now, they did not die as Gavin thought. They woke up in the main water supply room, next to the main water supply tank. The first to wake was Gavin, as he was the first to sleep. He figured out where they were, and what time it was. Rion started to stir.

"Hey buddy, we're dead," Gavin pretended. Rion got up, in a blur.

"Huh, I pictured the Underworld to be more… dark, and smoky, and… dead," Rion said.

"Just kidding, we're not dead. We're in the real actual basement. See, the water tank," he gestured at the large metal tank.

"Oh. For a second there, I almost fell for one of your stupid tricks," Rion said, laughing at his own gullibility.

"I figured it out. I know why we saw the stuff in the water."

"Naturally, you always figure out everything first," Rion mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," Gavin teased.

"I said 'what did you figure out this time?' genius," he shook his head as if he was the smart one.

"You see that?" he pointed at a colony of insects in the corner of the room, "The whole colony is influenced by Jala. Was. A few of them entered the water supply, and got crushed in the filtration system," he pointed to the huge filters, "their blood, carrying part of Jala, entered the water, as it's the only thing that can't really be filtered out. The smoke in the pool is the same smoke we saw earlier when we were battling her." Rion took a minute to absorb the information.

"So the black stuff in the water was bug blood infected with Jala. Is that basically what you're telling me?" Gavin nodded.

"Well that's disgusting. We should be going back now. It's been a couple minutes since we left. They should be almost done by now," the jogged to the of the basement exit.

"You people always take so much time using way more words than you need to. You could've just said that is was bug blood infected by Jala. Me and Dan are the only ones who get straight to the point. All you other people always add all this fluff," Rion said when they reached ground level.

"I don't get what you mean," Gavin replied, straightening his jacket and placing the pens back in their hiding spot.

"Instead of saying something like 'We went to the mall, and we went to blah blah blah, and we bought this and this and this and this. Then we went to blah blah blah and ate this and this and this.' Just say that you went to the mall, bought a bunch of stuff, and ate food. Like dang, you're wasting my time ," Rion explained. He finished talking right when they reached the door to the pool. Ieo and Dan had one more swimmer before both of them.

Rion and Gavin took their seats in the front row, nearest to where the starting point was. The team was cheering for their swimmer louder than the people in the stands were. The second to last swimmers entered the water. Ieo's teammate's dive was deep and smooth. She didn't have to start using her arms until more than halfway through the pool. The dividers stayed in place, following the waves in the water. Dan's teammate had a less impressing entrance to the water, but she was a powerful kicker. When they reached the end of the pool, they turned around and swam back to the start. The transition was a little slower for Ieo's team than Dan's, but it was pretty even between who would win. They were neck and neck they were halfway back to the start.

Ieo and Dan shook hands and wished each other good luck. Their teammates tagged their hands at the exact same time. They had amazing synchronization in the entering dive. Ieo was faster in using her arms and got more strokes in, but Dan kicked harder and put more power in her strokes, so it wasn't clear if one would finish before the other. The return point was what made it a little different. Iedoun turned, but had a little trouble. It was obvious that turning wasn't her forte. Danica, however, turned faster than she swam. It was obvious she didn't stop or anything; just a curled up flip and a change in direction.

They both kicked the wall hard, and at the exact same time too. Ieo had more speed now, and more power in her strokes. Danica was getting a little bit slower, but she had the good distance from the quick turn and the powerful kick. Ieo was gaining on Dan quick. They were inches from the finishing line, the team and the school cheering them on.

The times were being calculated while the teams were drying off. They were all dry by the time the scores were about to be posted, which took roughly ten minutes. The teams dissipated into the stands, sitting by their friends, absorbing all the congrats, and sharing the anticipation of watching the scores be posted on the large TV hanging from above.

Danica and Iedoun sat between Rion and Gavin. All the other teammates were drinking water and eating granola bars and what not. Dan and Ieo were just sitting in the stands, busily combing their hair and trying to get the perfect ponytail. The scores came up

Team Misty

Danica Raxitian- 1:57:04

Dey Larx- 2:01:46

Dinogomi Wu- 2:13:07

Misty Grey- 2:18:04

Nikki Pixton- 2:10:39

Team total: 10:51:70

Team Digna

Digna Lenton- 1:57:05

Minzy Carter- 2:14:95

Gladys Del Valle- 2:00:94

Iedoun Charome- 1:57:04

Cassidy Bales- 2:14:09

Team total: 10:20:07

"Well, this is a surprise!" said the announcer, "For the first time in Allen Avery High school history, someone has beaten Digna Lenton! Two people, in fact! Congratulations to Digna Lenton's team, for they have the fasted combined time," the crowd applauded. "Congratulations to our top three swimmers, Danica Raxitian, Iedoun Del Valle, both with the exact same times of 1:57:04, and our long time champion, Digna Lenton, just a hundredth of a second behind Danica and Ieo!" A loud roar came from the stands and all the swimmers were just taking it in and enjoying the moment. "Danica, Ieo, and Digna, please come up to the start line with one person of your choice to give you your medal."

"Congrats to us, Ieo!" Danica exclaimed, hugging Ieo.

"Let's go get our medals! Who's coming with us?" asked Ieo. Gavin and Rion obviously blushed and turned away to try and cover it up.

"Come on you two, Digna's already up there with Gladys," Danica said. She grabbed Rion's hand and Ieo grabbed Gavin's, both dragged the guys to the start line at the end of the pool. The two boys couldn't stop the blood from flowing to their cheeks. The staff handed each of the guys a gold medal, and Gladys a silver one.

"Well are you guys going to… oh, I don't know, hang those on our necks?" asked Ieo, leaning forward.

"Oh yeah, right. They go on you two. Not these two," Gavin answered back, hanging the medal on Ieo's neck. Rion did the same.

"Not bad. Hey are these real?" Danica joined in the conversation while studying the medal.

"Congrats to you both," Digna said, while only taking a moment to pause in front of the pairs before she continued walking toward the locker room with Gladys.

"Is it just me, or was Digna not insulting us for the first time?" Ieo asked when Digna was out of earshot.

"Oh no, hold me, it's the end of the world!" Danica lunged at Rion, hugging him and burst out laughing. The other two joined in.

"Okay. Let's go get something to eat. I'm starving," Gavin said, snaking his hand around Ieo's waist and walked toward the exit.

"The girls have to change still Gavin," Rion said, giggling with Danica.

"Then let's go with them," Gavin smirked before rubbing where Ieo slapped him on his arm.

"Idiot," Rion said under his breath.

"So, we're going to change, and then we can go eat. You two have to wait outside the locker room, though. Sound good?" They nodded at Danica's plan.

Chapter 18: Who's the Daughter? {Danica}

Today was my day! I beat Digna and her swim team, then I beat Digna, and I beat Digna! I know I should've congratulated her too, but I was just so caught up in the moment that I thought, 'It's my turn to celebrate'. I've been laying low for too long. It's my turn to absorb the moment now.

Gavin was not what I expected. He's more experience with things, meaning he's probably older than he looks. Ieo and I wanted to celebrate our victory after our swim, so we went out for dinner.

Rion and I took his car and Gavin and Ieo took his. We went to Ohio's Best. Their name is no lie. They are absolutely the best. They're an all you can eat buffet, with everything ranging from seafood, to meats, to vegetables, to desserts. Every kind of food you can think of, and as much as you want. The meat is cooked to perfection, and seasoned with heaven. Their desserts are worth dying for, coming back to life, and then dying again.

"Wow, this place smells awesome," Ieo said, walking into the restaurant and breathing the air heavily. She straightened out her pink tee. She was wearing light-washed jeans and Vans.

"Oh my gosh," Gavin said. When he stepped past the threshold, he batted at the air in front of him once as if he just saw a blinding light. "This is heaven, people," he said, breathing in the flavors. He adjusted his jacket.

"More memories today?" I asked Rion, both walking into the restaurant at the same time. I took a moment to put my hair in a messy bun. I was in my usual clothes again. Jacket, jeans, Nikes.

"Nah, we've already made them all," Rion replied.

"Hi Dan, Rion. Welcome back to Ohio's Best. Table for two?" the waitress asked. Carmin always saw to it that she was the only waitress who tended to Rion and me.

"Four actually, we're here with two other friends. We're celebrating our tied victory!" I said, holding up my medal and pointing to Ieo.

"Oh, ok. Congrats. Right this way. I'll make sure you get a booth so uh…" Carmin let her voice trail off while she escorted us four to a booth not too close to the rest of the customers. "I'll let you four go about in your… business" she lightly smirked.

"Okay Carm, see you later. And it's not a double date," I said.

"It's not?" Gavin said under his breath. We all shot him a look. He smirked and wiped it off his face when Rion kicked him under the table.

"Yeah. Sure Dan, just call if you need anything!" she walked away giggling a little.

"Let's go get food before we sit down. Just leave your stuff here," Rion said.

The food was sorted by type. I filled my tray with the usual: crispy, golden fries, medium rare steak, Coke, saucy buffalo wings, fried rice, and a small portion of sushi. My entire tray was filled. Rion got his usual too: a burger piled high with everything, bacon, lots of it, multiple slices of different kinds of pizza, orange chicken, Pepsi, and the remaining space on his tray was filled with mini strawberries.

Ieo walked around the whole food section before she actually got anything. When she finished her walk, she got green lemonade, mac and cheese, chocolate rice pudding, chicken nuggets, a taco with more contents than Rion's burger, and cream-cheese filled wontons.

Gavin just murdered the buffet. He filled his tray with lobster tails, shrimp cocktails, large oysters, a variety of pizzas, sushi, different cuts of ham, beef, and pork, along with French fries, a baked potato, and a fluffy egg shaped like a dinosaur. He planned to wash it down with classic raspberry iced tea.

Trying to get the food from the buffet area to the table was a challenge. I almost dropped my try twice, ran into someone once, and I almost couldn't lift the tray off the buffet table. I could tell that my struggle was mutual with the others. When we did make it to the table, we were all relieved to set our trays down somewhere.

"That was a workout," Gavin said, eating a few fries. He was about to sit down.

"Hey, hey, hey. Nope, get up. You're not sitting next to Ieo. Girls on one side, guys on the other," Rion pointed. The three of us awwed.

"Why?" I whined.

"It's just us. You know the same-side-of-the-booth thing?" he said.

"Oh, yeah right. Okay. Your loss," I said, sitting next to Ieo. I could tell Rion was hit with a slight pang of regret. Gavin snickered and sat in the booth next to him.

"Dang. We. Are. Hungry," Ieo chimed in, looking at the four trays.

"Yes. We. Are," Gavin mimicked.

"Especially a certain someone here," I snickered, we knew I was referring to Gavin. He kicked me lightly under the table. Rion looked up from his food and stared at him intensely before kicking Gavin back, pretty hard. Gavin grunted into one of his pizzas.

"I was referring to the person who swam and got a gold medal," I said.

"Ahem. I've been hungrier. And the amount of food he has is fine. We all eat that much. Don't deny it," Ieo said. We all laughed.

"Well-" Gavin started.

"Yeah, Gavin, that's great. Can we just shut up for a moment and eat something before we talk?" Rion cut him off.

Dang, what's up with you? I asked Rion mentally.

Nothing, I just want to eat without sound. At least for a few minutes before I end up half choking through the rest of my meal in laughing. He replied, finishing off a slice of his pizza.

Just tell me if something's annoying. I'll make it stop. Am I the thing annoying you? I asked. He knew that if I ever suspected anything, I'd always ask.

No! Never. I mean, I already know that I'll be laughing most of my meal, so I just want to eat for now. I'm fine. You could never annoy me. I will never see you as annoying. I'll see you as pretty, though. I reddened, trying to hide it by stuffing my face with the steak I had. A smile of satisfaction was hinted in his face.

How do you eat so much food without gaining a single ounce? I mean, I know how much and how often you eat, but you're still skinny.

I think it's because I keep using my muscles you keep looking at. I eat it, then I burn it. Just kidding, I swim. How about you. You eat twice as much as me, your skinny, you're not overly muscular, you don't run or workout or anything, you don't swim, but you're still fit and perfect. How does that happen? I reddened more, just trying to concentrate on hiding it by eating.

"Hey, Rion. Stop messing with her. Hands above the table," Gavin and Ieo laughed at his remark. Rion's face turned a pink hue.

Don't worry about it. I said.

"You think we haven't noticed you making her turn red as an apple? More than one time?" Gavin asked.

I choked a little. Ieo nudged me.

"I'm just eating. I'm not doing anything to her," Rion said, eating the last bite of the burger he had. "She's blushing because she's looking at me," I heard him say under his breath. I kicked him.

"Okay, this isn't working. Danica, you and me switch," Gavin said getting up. I looked at Rion. He nodded and smiled.

"You're not gonna… protest, or anything?" I asked him while I moved.

"Nope. Why should I," he said.

"Yeah, I'm good too," Ieo said, scooting over so she was on the inner part of the booth and Gavin was near the aisle.

We resumed eating until we were almost done.

"This place is awesome," Ieo said, finishing off the last of her wontons.

"Yep. It's our favorite restaurant," I said, looking at Rion.

"I can definitely see why. How long have you two known each other?" Ieo asked. Gavin was stuffing his face with his remaining food. So was Rion.

"Since elementary. " Rion and I were simultaneously drinking our drinks.

"Cool. How long have you two been dating?" Rion and I blew a few bubbles into our drinks a little too fast, making small splashing noises and almost spilling our drinks into our laps. We were always so synchronized.

"We were never together. We're really just best friends." I said, laughing nervously and resumed drinking.

"Seriously?" Gavin pitched in, raising an eyebrow across the booth. Rion kicked him again.

"Yeah. Seriously," Rion mocked, "But why do you ask?"

"Oh, well besides the fact that you two always hangout together, you two have openly admitted it to each other, you just made her blush so much she's gonna faint, and that you two have kissed, there's nothing that even hints you two have feeling for each other," Ieo reasoned, taking a sip of the oddly colored lemonade. Gavin nodded in approval.

"We could say the same about you two," I chimed in, "I mean, it's not that hidden."

"True dat!" Rion exclaimed, finishing everything off his tray that weren't strawberries. I took and ate one, since I'd already cleaned my tray. They were very small, and uniform size.

"Kid, I met her yesterday," Gavin pointed out.

"Yet you act like… Us pretty much," I said.

"You do realize that you just admitted to us that there is something between you two, right?" Oops. She was right. What was I going to say now? I took another strawberry.

"But you also do realize that at least we've confirmed that the feeling is mutual. You two haven't made it clear to each other. Yet. I mean, to us, it's crystal clear. I mean, I'm not trying to sound like a know-it-all or anything… I'm just kinda… saying what it is," I tried to make myself sound less rude. The three laughing at me, making me join in between my sentences, wasn't making me sound any less hostile. We ended up laughing so hard we forgot why we were laughing. We finally calmed down after a good ten minutes of laughing.

"Why were we laughing again?" Ieo asked, leaning against Gavin.

"Umm… I forgot," I said, finishing at least half of Rion's strawberries.

"Oh well… ooh, they just refilled the desserts! Anyone want to come with?" Gavin asked.

"Yep," Ieo and Rion said.

"I'll just stay here and give Carmin the trays. You guys go ahead," I said.

"You two go ahead. Don't try anything Gavin. I'll stay with Dan," Rion said. Aww, so nice. I was just going to reach for another strawberry when he popped one in my mouth.

"Thanks?"

"Yeah, no problem." Rion sat down again.

"Okay, we'll just get dessert and come right back," Gavin said.

They walked toward the dessert section and I stopped watching them. Rion was staring at me.

"What?" I asked, eating yet another strawberry.

"Your eyes," he ate a strawberry.

"Oh shoot. Are they green and red, again?" I looked down.

"Nope," he popped a few more strawberries in his mouth.

"Oh, ha ha. Then why are you staring?" I ate another handful.

"They're green."

"What?! No they're not. Ha ha Rion," I laughed.

"Okay, don't say I didn't tell you," he ate more strawberries.

"You should've gone with them to get dessert. I can still hear your stomach," I said. He hugged his stomach. I saw a large bite mark on his forearm. It looked like it came from a hippo or something. I looked away like I never noticed it.

"Hmph. Like you wanted me to go," he ran his hand in his hair, which was cute.

"You feel too special all the time. Tone it down."

"You're right. But I really am special. Especially to you. Besides, I wouldn't be so hungry of someone hadn't finished my strawberries. I took like a million and ate like four," he looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I liked that look, it opened up his blue irises . I stopped before I put the last strawberry on my mouth.

"Oh, sorry." I fed it to him, "Five."

"Even though I don't say it, you're very special to me," he said. I wasn't looking and I thought he was going to put his arm around me. Instead, he took the octopus claw that was holding my hair. My locks fell from the messy, but tight bun.

"RION! Give it back!" he faced the wall and curled up with the claw on his stomach, laughing hard. I fought for the accessory and I didn't notice Ieo and Gavin sit down until Rion said, "Hi guys." I instantly straightened myself out and gave up on the claw

"Well now we know what you two were up to," Gavin said.

"Get your arm off her waist Gavin," Rion retorted. Gavin did so.

"So what dessert did you guys get?" I asked.

"We got lots of Jell-O!" Gavin exclaimed. He was not lying. It was a TON of Jell-O.

"And we got tiramisu, brownies, and ice cream. It's for all of us. I figured you two would've gotten dessert if Danica here weren't buzzkill. No, I'm just kidding, Dan. You're not buzzkill," Ieo added.

"Thanks," I said, wondering if she was really kidding.

"She's kidding Dan, eat up," Rion said. He obviously read my mind.

Although the next part of our meal was full of hilarious remarks and comebacks, I still couldn't remove a thought in the back of mind. Iedoun is a really nice person, but why am I sensing a bit of hostility. Maybe it's just me, or maybe she'd just a big jokester like Rion and Gavin, but something's telling me it's not.

"I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be right back, don't finish all the Jell-O!" Ieo said. When she left, I excused myself and followed her to the bathroom. She was fixing her hair in the mirror when I walked in. It was just us.

"Oh, hey Dan," she smiled.

"Hey, umm, can I ask you something?" I said.

"Yeah, sure. Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"Actually, I was just about to ask you that," I walked next to her and fixed my hair, making sure the part was straight.

"Huh? I'm not sure what you mean," she looked puzzled.

"Okay, so I'm gonna say what's in my mind. See, I hate when people talk smack about people behind their backs. I mean, I'd rather have someone walk up to me and say it to my face, you know what I mean? I'd rather tell you what I think now than put up a charade. So if anything I say offends you, just tell me," I looked for her reaction.

"I absolutely agree with you. If we both be honest, there's nothing wrong with that," she said and nodded in approval.

"Okay, so umm, I've been sensing some hostility in our conversations at the table. I'm not judging or anything, I'm just telling you what's in my mind. I'm also not sure if you were kidding, or what," I looked at her to track any reactions.

"Oh, my jokes? They're genuinely just jokes with no intended harm. I promise. I'm not mean, I'm just really playful. That's just the way I joke around. I've picked up some things from Gavin. Is that why?"

"Oh, no. I was just wondering if you hated me or something. I mean, I wasn't sure because I was thinking, is she just kidding, is she trying to be mean, or what? You know? It's just that thing that bothers me when I hang out with someone, and I don't know what they're doing. I was just clearing things up so there's no misunderstanding." I washed my hands in the sink next to me.

"Yeah, I get it. I mean, this would've gone really bad if you thought I was being mean and then you'd be mean to me and I'd think that you were trying to be mean, and on and on and on. Thanks for coming straight to me, I really appreciate it. I really like when someone does that. So then there's no more 'maybe' or 'if'." So she was just kidding.

"Yeah, definitely. Thanks for not taking it the wrong the way. You want to go back and finish the desserts?" I asked, wiping my hands on a couple paper towels. Oh my eyes had turned green.

"Yeah, let's go," we went back to the table.

It was nice to make the tension between us go away. Rion finished the ice cream, Gavin ate the first half of the Jell-O, Ieo murdered the brownies, and I finished the tiramisu.

"Are you guys done?" Carmin came by our table and collected the trays.

"Carm, we're ready to pay," Rion said.

"Okay, I'll just go bring this to the kitchen, and I'll meet you guys at the front," she smiled and walked away.

"Okay, guys, I got this. My treat," I said, pulling out my wallet.

"Oh, no. let me at least pay half. It's also my victory celebration," Ieo reasoned.

"Nope, ladies, it's proper that Rion pays. He's is a guy after all," Gavin said.

"You're a guy too, shouldn't you be paying too then?" I said.

"Yeah but-" Rion cut him off.

"Since we all want to pay, and the bill is… forty bucks, let's just all pay ten bucks," Rion said, putting his sunglasses on. We all fell silent.

"Why didn't we think of that first?" Ieo said. We each pulled out ten dollars and gave it to Carmin.

"Thanks guys, come back soon!" Carmin shouted when we walked out the door. It's required of her to say that to every customer she serves.

"So I'll take Ieo home, and you take Dan," Gavin said to Rion.

"Yeah, Dad wouldn't want a stranger dropping me off at… eight o' clock," I said.

"Bye Ieo, see you tomorrow. Gavin, take her straight home," I said.

The drive home was fairly interesting. It was a pretty long drive to my house.

"What's wrong? And don't tell me it's nothing. Did something happen I don't know about?" I asked him. There was definitely something he wasn't telling me. He was bound to tell me know.

"Okay. Gavin and I went on a little adventure during your swimming competition," he said.

"What? So you didn't watch us swim. But Ieo and I saw you guys in the stands before we started," I said.

"Okay. It's a lot of wrong logic. We saw some black smoke in the water when I got there. Only we saw it. It looked like someone or something put a few drops of food coloring in the pool and then when it dissipated, the water became clear again. We thought since we were the only ones who saw it, that it must have something to do with something mythical, since we are technically mythical."

"Let me guess, you guys went to the main water supply and found the cause of the black smoke. I went in your mind," I said.

"So then you know everything that happened, then?" he asked. His shades reflected some light into my eyes.

"Yeah. What happened when you guys slept?"

"We woke up in the real basement. Now I realize that the Iron Prison is a wandering form of something like a new dimension. It twists logic, plays with gravity, and bends physics. It's like the ultimate find-your-way-out game. Except it's life and death instead of out or stuck."

"Okay, so based on the info I'm getting, there was an evil gorgon's maze in the basement, which she hasn't been able to escape since the dawn of time, and you two morons killed her, and escaped the bipolar dimension prison. That's basically what you're telling me," I asked. He could've just said that one sentence.

"Yeah. But there's one thing that's still bugging me," he said and leaned on his left elbow with the other hand still steering the car.

"Which is?"

"Why would the Iron Prison be in AA's basement? I get that Jala follows around her daughter all the time, but if her prison's in AA, then that means her daughter is too. Who's her daughter though?" my stomach fell.

"A gorgon's daughter goes to AA? Then you two idiots murdered her mother!"

"Yeah, but if you think about it, it's not much of a mother. She turned into a gorgon and destroyed a nation and left her family with basically no information about her."

"But she destroyed Rhordoux because of the things she was hearing from Hermes, her husband. Her anger was fueled by love. She also waited until her baby was born before taking out her anger. And, she always looks after her daughter and in always near her. That means that she still actually cares."

"When you're in that box, it's life and death. That box can do anything to anyone. Jala went crazy in there, I got lost. I got lost! I never get lost! Gavin forgot his own name. We didn't even know which side of the room was the ground and the ceiling. For all we know, that couldn't have even been Jala. That could've just been a decoy, or a dummy, or a glorified rag doll. So there's a chance that I could've just killed a Jala look alike."

"Keyword: Chance. I'm going to sleep," I added.

"Oh no, you're not. I'm not going to wake you up if you fall asleep. Do you know how hard it is to wake you up? And how you act when you finally wake up? You're like 'Oh my gosh Rion, why the heck did you wake me up?' and blah blah blah. You know, you fall asleep an angel, it's like waking up a witch?" he laughed.

"Well, this witch is still going to sleep. Waking me up is your problem," I said and slept for about half an hour. I wasn't really sleeping, I was just pretending. I was listening to what he was saying while I was 'asleep'. I could tell we got lost twice because of the 'dark'.

When we got to my house, it was about eight forty five. I told dad we would go out for dinner, so all the lights were off and he was asleep. Rion knew where I hid the spare key, under one of the boards on our porch. I heard him ease the board from the loose nail and pick up the key. He opened the front door and attempted to wake me up. I refused to open my eyes so he carried me to my room. He wrote a note and left it on my nightstand. He left one on the kitchen table too. He locked the door on his was out and put the key back in the porch. The last thing I heard was him pulling out of the driveway. I still kept thinking about who the daughter of Jala could be. I immediately slept after I heard him lock up and drive home out.

Chapter 19:The Reveal {Gavin}

"This is your car?" Ieo asked.

"Yep. You like it?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. It's a red Mustang. Who wouldn't?" she climbed in the passenger's seat.

"Italian leather? Are you sure you didn't steal this car from a rich person?"

"Nope, all mine. Impressed?" I laughed, shut her door and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Whaaaaaat? No. I'm not that impressed. I've seen better. Besides, just because you have a Mustang doesn't mean I like you," she lied.

"But it means I have a chance," I flashed her a smile and buckled my seatbelt. She already had hers on. I inserted the key into the ignition and started the engine. She ran her hand over the buttons that controlled the air conditioning, music, and heating settings.

"Chrome buttons. What else can your car do?" I pushed a button and started driving.

"Are you cold?" her chair heated up. I could feel my eyes sparkle. Literally, sparkle. My irises now held glitter. I looked away. I didn't want her to see me with glitter eyes. I tried changing them, but I couldn't. I noticed that whenever I was around Ieo, I had no real control over my eyes.

"This car is so cool. I want this model when I get my first car. But I'm changing the color. I like the red, but it doesn't look good when I'm in it."

"The car could be brown and still look good with you in it. But anyway, what color would you change it to?" she turned pink.

"I want it metallic green, but at an angle it looks blue. I used to paint my nails that color all the time. It was in a round bottle so it would be green in the middle and blue around the edge," she said.

"I have shoes that color. I only wear them on very special occasions though, it gets dirty to easily. Why do you think Digna was being so nice earlier? I expected her to insult us or call your victory luck or something. And I've only known her for like a day. I bet you've known her longer and have more thoughts," I tried making myself sound as smart as I could. My eyes went orange.

"Yeah, what's up with Digna? She would've been all over us. Maybe it was the staff and the huge crowd. Maybe she didn't want to make a scene in front of the teachers and the other students. But for sure, something will happen tomorrow. My house is a few miles from here. Just take the-" I already knew where she lived.

"I know where you live." I cut her off.

"Uh, stalker much? How do you know? Did you research me or something?"

"GPS. The thing in front of you. Why would I do research on you?" I playfully asked her. I made sure it was evident that I was just kidding.

"Oh please. You would check under my desk to find the gum I was chewing during class." She saw me? What? When? How? Just kidding, I don't do that. My eyes turned pink again. Why did they always turn pink around Ieo? And why can't I change them?

"Can you hand me my sunglasses in the glove compartment?" I asked.

"Nope."

"Why not? Do you want me to get it myself? And crash the car?" I asked in a tone that said "you're ridiculous".

"Because you're just going to cover up your eyes. Your pink eyes. Why do you always make them pink? Around me?" she asked. I felt like she already knew the answer.

"I don't know. When I'm around you, I can't really control what color they change. I have no idea why I have a hard time controlling it around you. Maybe you're some kind of secret special force that interferes with my concentration," I said, making myself sound slightly like a nerd.

"Well, maybe. Maybe not." In my mind, I knew she was. She was a wonderful person. Pretty, smart, athletic, simple, playful, and a whole bunch of other good things.

"What color are your eyes? I know it's a dumb question, but since you asked me yesterday, I was shocked I couldn't actually figure it out."

"That's because I'm changing the pattern. The colors stay in the same place, I just shift the pattern. Like one of those illusion drawings with all the colors and patterns. That's why it looks like some colors appear and reappear, and then they appear again. Like how you change your eye color. It's actually a lot like your eyes. The brightest colors show more than the dull ones when I feel certain emotions, then they dull into a grayish blue when I feel others," she explained. Interesting. Archxiton did that too, but how would she have Archxiton eyes? Maybe she doesn't, maybe it's just a random mutation.

"Weird. I thought I was the only one with changing eye colors. I feel less special now. And it's all. Your. Fault," I tried adding a slight attitude to it. She knew I was just messing around.

"You know, you're the one person I can actually have a decent conversation with, but still be really dumb and goofy around. All my other friends aren't like you."

"What about Onyx, your boyfriend?" I honestly didn't know if they were dating, but I know Ieo meant a lot to him, because he was always protective when I was around. That meant I was somehow I was a threat to him.

"He's not my boyfriend. We never dated." Her attitude instantly dimmed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's ok. Everybody just thinks that we were a couple and I hate it when people bring it up. That's why you see me hanging out with him all the time, but you never see anyone talk about it around us. I usually stare people down for bringing it up, but you're off the hook because you haven't really had the chance to know me that well."

"So then what are you two, if you're not dating?" I was curious and a little uplifted at the mention of her not dating Onyx.

"He's been my best friend since kindergarten. He's been different though. Back in seventh grade, there was a hushed rumor that went around about him liking me. I never believed it though. He changed the year after that rumor started," she stared out the window like a lost girl.

"Because…" I looked at her to continue.

"He changed into a person I didn't know anymore. He acted differently around me. When I asked him, he didn't know what I was talking about. He said that he'd been that way since forever. It's like he wasn't comfortable around me anymore. He changed when he was around his guy friends and around me." A tear escaped the dam she was barely holding back.

"I'm sorry. But you know that that means you mean something to him. Guys, we do that sometimes."

"We're here."

I pulled up alongside the curb. Her driveway held a very stylish car. It had no brand, logo, or model on the back. It was the unmistakable and completely distinguished rear of a tan Intrepid. I know it's an old car, but the rounded everything of the car made it a classic like for me. It just had a round, smooth, and sleek design to it, I always want to own one, but I already had two cars. She gathered her stuff from the backseat.

"Thanks for the awesome dinner. And the ride. See you at school," she smiled through the door. I made sure she was inside the house before I drove away.

Hey, did you drop her off already? Rion's annoying voice came in my head.

Yeah. Do you need anything? I replied in an annoyed voice. I made sure it was evident.

Dan and I might've found something out about Jala and the Prison.

What did you guys find out? My thought sounded more excited than I wanted it.

I'll tell you later. We're telling her today remember? Telling her what? Oh yeah, her story.

Yeah, I'll be there.

I arrived home forty-five minutes after I dropped Ieo off. I immediately changed into my pj's and went to bed. About a few minutes later, I fell asleep and looked for Rion or Danica's dream. As soon as I found Danica's dream, I entered the cloud through a secret door. The only cloud door.

"And here he is. The great P! You know, you should consider changing your name to something else." Danica laughed.

"So your P. Why didn't you two geniuses tell me this before?" she eyed us dangerously.

"Be-cause you had your swim team to worry about and we didn't want to add to you stress?" I tried answering.

"Okay. That's a legitimate answer. Good enough. So why don't you tell me what I've been waiting to hear?" she asked. She changed the scenario to a well-lit room. It looked like a bedroom. A red one, so I didn't know whose it could've been. She jumped on the bed and into the huge pile of covers and sheets. Rion followed suit. I decided not to intrude and just sat in a very comfortable swivel chair by a desk strewn with useless documents.

After a few long minutes of them tickling each other, they finally sat up and composed themselves. I hadn't noticed that Rion and I were wearing the exact same clothes until Danica brought it up. White tee, black jeans, and green shoes.

"Rion? Or P?" she looked back and forth between us. The only thing separating or looks was our sunglasses, which we always had on. Rion shot me a look saying 'You're me'.

"I don't know, which one is who?" I said, and I got up and stood up next to Rion by the foot of the bed. I took the sunglasses of and Rion followed getup.

"Easy. Gavin, match Rion's eye color. I can tell you apart be looking in your eyes." We turned around and I did so. When we faced her, we looked her straight in the eye with a look neither of us would ever pull on her, so it wouldn't influence her choice.

"Pret-ty good Gavin. But Rion has harder muscles." She tazed both of us in the stomach, making us simultaneously grunt and slightly stumble back.

"So which is which?" Rion asked.

"Hmmmm. Close your eyes. Both of you." This was kind of fun.

"That one's Rion, and the other one…must be a girl," she burst out laughing.

"Hey, you got Rion, but where's Gavin?" I tried teasing. She had gotten them right.

"So about the story I've been waiting to hear. When can I hear it?" she had a mocking smile on her face.

"Now if you want," Rion offered.

"Sure."

"So when you were born, you were given a gift of immortality. From one of the gods, I can't say which one, or why. You were sent to Earth because Zeus was waging war against another empire, much like Rhordoux. Everything was violent and just plain bad. He didn't want you to grow up in a world like that. So he sent you here. And here you live your life as a mortal girl. Have you ever wondered what color your hair is? You dye it brown to fit in, but your natural hair color is a mix of red and grey. Have you ever wondered why? Because that's a godly color. It's only present in the gods. Only a select few have your hair color. Rion has artificially colored hair too. Jet-black or brown is what a mortal child's normal hair color is. He chose black because he thinks it matches him better. His hair's actually blue and steel. Mine is pure white , but you see it as red." I stopped talking for a minute to let her absorb the information. I trimmed the story since these two hated any added fluff.

"I am also immortal. Even though we really shouldn't be calling it that because we can still die or be killed. I come from a line of mad scientists and I always experimented in myself when I was younger. When I was thirteen, I injected myself with this serum of random stuff. Turns out, you can make immortality with things you find around your house. Crazy right? So when the serum fused with my blood, I spontaneously combusted starting from my arm. It didn't hurt or affect me, but it affected everything else. My secret lab, remember that? It burned down along with every note I took. I also lost memory of what notes I took. No doubt my memory loss was planned."

"So I'm a random immortal, Rion's a lucky test subject, so you have a story too, don't you?" She asked me.

"I honestly don't know my biography. I had a broken family I don't want to look back to. Besides, I was created to do paperwork and things other people don't want to do. I've lived long enough to know that that's my purpose. I'm a natural workaholic," I sadly said. It was true after all.

"I know that's a lie. Who was your fist love? That should give you a real purpose," she said. She didn't understand I never loved anybody.

"I've never loved. Because I have no real purpose." I tried to make it sound as blunt as I could.

"Lies. You have Ieo." I took a moment to think about this. She was right and wrong at the same time. I did love Ieo. She did somehow give me a purpose. I felt happy and alive whenever she was around. But I didn't know if she saw me that way too. If she did, then I could confirm my purpose. If she didn't, then I'm still a useless workaholic.

"She's right. I see how your face lights up when she comes around. And the way you act around her. It's pretty obvious Gavin. She even has a nickname for you already Gav," Rion always supported Danica. There was a temporary lull in the conversation.

"Your opinion doesn't count because you will always side with Dan." I said.

"Okay, that's established, I don't get why I'm immortal though. I mean, if it was a gift, then there must be some sort of thing I did to earn it." Danica pondered.

"Speaking of gifts, Rion, have we received our gift for killing Jala yet?" I asked. I've meaning to ask.

"Not that I know of, but about that thing Dan and I discovered. Jala had a child before she went berserk, right?" Rion asked.

"Yeah. So?" I tried to make him cut to the chase.

"Jala was still attached to the child in motherly love. She couldn't stay too far from her child ever since she destroyed Rhordoux."

"Continue," I said, actually curious about what he was about to say.

"It means that if she follows her daughter within the Iron Prison, and the prison was in the basement of AA, then her daughter must've been in AA. Jala's daughter goes to AA!" Danica was better at summing things up than Rion was.

"So Jala's daughter goes to AA. That means we know her. I mean, if she's the daughter of Jala, then she's definitely immortal. If she's immortal, there a big chance that we've met her, since we immortals tend to band together, like us." I explained.

"So one of our friends is the daughter of the gorgon we had to kill." Rion said. I tried to comprehend this. I murdered one of my friend's parents. Interesting.

"But who? Who's her daughter?" Danica said.

"It has to be someone in our grade. Most likely we see her a lot. But what do we do when we find her?" I tried ruling out the obvious people. It wasn't that hard. It had to be either one of the specials, Ieo, or Dan.

"It's either Ieo, or one of the Three Specials. We already know it's not Dan. When we find her, we have to find out if she knows about her mother's death and about her whole person. Because if she's completely clueless, and we tell her everything, we will never see the slightest bit of earth again, Rion," I said.

"What traits would her daughter have? Intelligence, for one. Some hatred, and maybe even some evil. We have to pick our first target before we go around asking questions," Rion said.

"She'll definitely be intelligent and a bad enemy. Ieo is nothing like that, so our first target should be one of the Specials. I vote Digna first. We know she has some special traits. She is a good guess. We have to get information from all of them before we rule anyone out," Danica guessed.

"I think it's a good first move. Gavin?" I was so deep in thought that I almost didn't hear Rion's question.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah, it's a good move. But how do we question her?"

"Leave that to me. I have some connections with people."

Chapter 20: Voices Inside My Head{Digna}

Mornings. Not my favorite thing in the world. I looked at the clock. 5:45. I woke up before my alarm went off! Yay! I turned the alarm off so I wouldn't have to hear the annoying ringing later. I took a shower and used up about half an hour getting dressed. Yeah, I take half an hour. My fixed my hair into a yellow braid. My hair dye was also fading. In less than a week, my hair would be completely red and steel. I had to go to the mall afterschool. I made sure my phone charged fully before putting into my shoulder bag I carried at school. I had to get a new one, the pink leather was fading where it wrinkled often. Breakfast was just a plain bagel with strawberry jam and cream cheese. The whole mansion was empty except for me. Life was luxurious, but blank.

After I had enough plain for one morning, I tossed the rest of the bagel into the grinder and washed my plate and knife. I grabbed my bag and keys and walked out the door. The drive to AA was the usual fifteen minutes. Traffic wasn't that bad. When I parked my blue Dodge Barracuda, I turned the engine off and took some time to put on some pencil eyeliner and light mascara. I made sure my hair wasn't frizzy or messed up and walked into AA through the front gate and made my way to the cafeteria. Dino, Gladys and I always met up there.

"Good morning Digna," Dino said, looking up from her phone.

"Morning. How was traffic?" Gladys asked.

"Morning. Traffic wasn't that bad. There's been more traffic in an ant colony with a population of three." I tried bringing some humor into my morning. I doubt the smiles on my friends' faces were real.

"Hey Digna, has your hair always been a faded blonde at the roots?" Dino asked.

"No, it might be my shampoo. I'm going to the mall to get a different one. The one I used last night made my roots brown," I answered. It was hard to recall what color my roots were, but I remembered anyway.

"How do you keep your skin so clear and healthy? What's your secret? You probably already told me, but I forgot. Could you tell me again?" Gladys asked. Why all the questions all of a sudden. Nah, they probably don't know about my real person. It's just a coincidence.

"I don't use anything special on my skin. Just regular soap and warm water." Gladys and Dino nodded.

"We should get to class. I'll see you after history," I turned my phone on and wired my headphones up my sleeve instead of up my shirt. That way, I could listen to music while leaning on my arm. I wouldn't have to worry about getting caught with a wire running up my neck, connecting to an earbud. Mrs. Vera would have my phone confiscated until I wrote a fifty-page essay. I was not about to write a fifty page essay on World History. Never. Not even for a grade.

I zoned out when Mrs. Vera out on a video and went to her desk to 'read'. She was really just sleeping. Nobody listened to the documentary on Arabian customs.

I'm sorry for your loss, came a voice in my head. It was familiar, but I couldn't remember who it belonged to. No doubt it was one of the gods. Male.

Hello, who are you? I have not lost anyone. Not like I have much to lose anyway, but who were you referring to? With all due respect mighty god, I have a right to know. I called back, still in my mind.

Forgive me, young one. I am forbidden to reveal this information to you. You will eventually figure it out. Can't you feel it? There is a piece of you missing. I know you can feel it. She hasn't been following you. There are other people like you. Immortal. Gods and goddesses. Find them. Join them whatever it takes. I had no idea who this god was talking about.

Who are you referring to? I cannot be allies with them if I do not know them. I will join them, however. Was I really going to join them?

Child, you doubt your own words. Promise me you will join them no matter what. Please. Child, please.

Y-Yes, I will. Now who are you, and who must I join. Why have you been speaking to me in my head?

All in proper time child. You will figure it out sooner than what is planned. You are intelligent, cunning, and a bad enemy. Join the immortals. They will help you. Good-bye child. No more words were exchanged. Who is this man? Always talking to me. He was right, though. I did feel a piece of me missing. I did feel like there was nothing following me. There was something that died. Something was telling me that it was a relative. I don't know why, but something kick started a part of my brain I never knew existed.

I finally felt something I never felt before. I felt that someone cared for me. For the very first time in my life, I finally felt that someone cared for me. I'm not alone in this world that will die. There are others like me. Others who could be my friends. Others who would have my back, and I'd have theirs. Others who understood. All my life I've only felt my father care for me. But it's different when it's your family compared to a friend. Finally, some others understand the struggles. I have to find them.

But how was I going to find them and make friends with them? The only people I hang out with are Dino, Gladys, and a few jocks. It can't be the jocks because they are bad actors and age normally. Dino and Gladys are the same. Who else could it be?

For sure it'll be someone I've crashed into before. But I don't really talk to that many people, despite my social placement. Except… Rion, Danica, Ieo, and Gavin. No! I'd never team up with them! I'd never be friends with them! But I promised that god I would. I can't break that promise! The gods would kill me! I've been bordering on the gods' good and bad sides for too long. I f I screw this up, no more Digania Lentosa. Yes, that's my real name.

I have to make peace with them. How, I don't know. It's make peace with them, or lose peace with the gods. The bell marking the end of first period rang.

"Hey Digna. How was history?" Gladys asked in the hallway on my way to biology.

"Boring as usual," I replied. I was trying to find anything unusual in the students, as I might've lead to the immortals. I was caught up in looking off the side I forgot to look where I was going.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," I said. I literally walked into a wall. A wall of muscle.

"Uh, no, it's ok. I wasn't paying attention either. I'm just looking for someone. Sorry."He had shockingly green eyes and dirty blonde hair. It was neatly combed and gelled perfectly. He stood at least six feet and struck an unmistakable pang of interest in me. His face was like a god and his smile perfect. Like a god…

"Oh, ok. Who are you looking for?" I thought it was the right question at the right time. The immortals. I heard in my head. No doubt it was his voice.

"I'm looking for the person who's supposed to show me around, but I can't find them," he said. Lies.

"You don't have to pretend around me." I continued the sentence in my head. I'm looking for them too. He was obviously a little shocked. He extended a hand.

"Cool. I'm Calvin Ronin. Nice to meet you," his voice was the sound from a golden instrument. It rivaled the voice of an angel and the roar of a bear. It was amazing.

"Digna Lenton. Or more professionally, Digania Lentosa. Now what's your real name?" We both laughed. I shook his warm hand. Gladys and Dino were completely lost.

"You're funny. I better get to class. I'll find my friend later. Hopefully. Can you point me to Biology with Mrs. Jones really fast? I'm still kinda lost."

"You have Mrs. Jones? Cool, I have her right now too! Let's go?" I walked a few steps and gestured for him to follow. When we got to class, I stopped in the doorway and stared into the room of people throwing paper balls and airplanes. I batted one coming straight at me.

"Sorry Diggy! Didn't see you there!" A guy named Jack called. He was known for being a jerk and causing trouble.

"Save it Jack-elyn," I said and sat down in a random seat, making sure there was an extra seat next to it so it would be open for Calvin. Naturally, he sat next to me. Dino and Gladys had algebra as their third period, so they weren't in my class.

"My worst subject," he exhaled.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yep. It's not the fact that I can't be smart, it's that I can't show it. Bio is my favorite and I have to act like I'm a total idiot," he explained. It made sense, since I can't be a know-it-all in calculus.

So why are you looking for the immortals again? I asked mentally. I took out my notebook so it didn't look like just me sitting there doing nothing. I started doodling on the back cover of one of my notebooks.

A voice in my head told me too. And you? he replied.

Same! Who told you? I don't know who told me to, but it was a very familiar voice. It he talks to me sometimes. Like in times of need.

I think it was my dad. I remember the voice from somewhere, but I forgot where. Every time he talks to me, a scene from my childhood flashes. It's me in a park being thrown in the air by someone. The whole thing is blurry he said. He was taking out a notebook too. A new green one. He wrote his name on it with a sharpie.

We'll find them. I assume we're going to team up and help each other find them. If you want to search for them solo, that's fine too. I added the last part so I wouldn't sound too attached.

Of course we'll search for them together. My dad told me to stick together once I found them. He made me promise to. No matter what, I have to team up with them. I don't understand why. I mean, if I don't like them, then I'd have to deal with that. But why do you think we have to stick together? He was drawing something elaborate in his notebook. I couldn't see exactly what it was.

I have no idea. He made me do the same thing. Is it like that for every immortal? Watcha drawing? I asked.

I guess we all have that, right? How are we going to find these people? Mrs. Jones began talking and 'teaching' the lesson. She didn't care if you paid attention. She only cared if you passed the tests. Calvin obviously panicked. He didn't know what the class was like. I had to laugh.

Calm down, she doesn't badger you to pay attention. She just talks at her desk and doesn't care if you take notes or not. She won't even look up from the lesson book. It's like lunch period. What are you drawing? It looks really complicated. He calmed down and took out a bunch of colorful sharpies. I tried to look over his arm but he turned before I could see what he was drawing. I grunted.

Ha ha. You'll see. Why do you care so much?

The period was boring as usual. I never listened because I always aced the tests anyway and I knew the answers. I slept through about half the class until I felt a paper plane crash into my head. I was a really light sleeper.

"Jack!" I hissed. It wasn't Jack. Calvin was laughing and failing at trying to suppress it.

"Oh my gosh, I was having such a good dream. Why would you wake me up?" I think he heard me over the noisy classroom. Mrs. Jones was, as usual, just sitting at her desk and talking to pretty much herself.

"Oops. You looked so peaceful when you were sleeping. I had to jump at the chance. Besides, it was just a paper plane." He closed his notebook. I assumed he was done drawing.

"Urgh." I hit my head on the desk.

It barely hit your head he said in my mind.

You are irritating. Just like some other people I know. I just realized that Rion, Gavin, and Calvin looked remarkably similar. The height, hairstyle, clothes, and everything about them. They had the same smile, hair, face, muscularity, intelligence, humor, I could go on and on. It's like they were copies of someone else. I know Calvin and Rion are immortals, but no mortal can change their eye color whenever they want. Gavin Hilt had to be an immortal. Who are your parents? I asked.

I know that my mom was a mortal named Christella. I don't know who my dad is. How about you? he was on his phone.

I don't know who my mom is, but I'm daughter of Hermes. I plugged in my headphones and listened to Matthew Koma.

You're the daughter of the Hermes? Messenger of the gods? God of mischief? That Hermes? He asked.

Yeah. Why are you so excited? I looked over at him and back to the mess of a classroom.

Hermes is my role model. I've heard stories about you. I can't believe I'm even talking to you now!

Really? What do you hear about me? I really wanted to know what people were saying about me at home. It's been a while since I've been home.

I hear the best things about you. You destroyed SO many things at one time. You really are the daughter of Hermes. You were so young when you held one of Zeus' lightning bolts! You destroyed more than half of existence! You're like an angel of destruction. I had the biggest crush on you a few years ago. But then I heard you met a guy named Rion. The enthusiasm in him died. I felt so bad.

Sometimes we do things on accident. Even immortals aren't perfect. I said. I tried acting humble. It didn't work. I wanted to avoid the topic of Rion and me.

You are perfect. You look at it as a mistake. Why? They should've lightened up your punishment. I mean, for the gods' sake, you're the daughter of Hermes! They can't expect you to be a goody goody. It's your nature. You can't help it . He was right. But there's nothing I can do about that now. I was getting a warm and fuzzy feeling. No, I won't fall again.

I think the god who talks to me is my dad. But I can't be sure. He said something about losing someone. Someone I knew. Something that followed me around. I don't know what he was talking about. Instantly, Calvin face flushed with realization.

How old are you again? I think I can help you with that. I really wanted to know what Dad was talking about.

Fourteen. I'm fourteen. Why? How is this going to help?

I meant your age in Olympian years.

Oh. I'm uh. Umm, four twenty six.

Seriously? You don't look four twenty six. Well anyway, about the same time you were born, there was a mother who destroyed Rhordoux. It was a universal tragedy. It was all the buzz for the following decades. Have you heard of Rhordoux?

I think so, but not really. I just recognize the name. Wasn't it an empire, or something?

Yeah, it was an empire that rivaled Olympus. When Olympus was ages old and still strong, Rhordoux sprang up and instantly had the same amount of power as Olympus. People said Zeus overworked his employees, but no one had the guts to tell him. They said Hermes would spill everything out at home to his wife, Jala. After she gave birth, she turned into a gorgon and destroyed Rhordoux. No, I couldn't be the daughter of a destroyer. Then again, it's not impossible. She was powerful and destructive. So was I.

Okay, so I'm the daughter of Jala. Cool. Why is this so significant? This was interesting me a lot.

I heard a few days ago, that two immortals entered the Iron Prison through the Iron Shield. The prison is like a wandering form of a twisted dimension, Jala would always be trapped in one room and try to figure out how to escape it. She's been trapped in there since the fall of Rhordoux. She follows her daughter around from a distance all the time. She can't just destroy her prison because it's made if iron, the only material her powers can't penetrate. She has some of the strongest powers ever known to existence. She glows an eerie green and uses possession and mind tricks to cause trouble. She has other beings do the work.

Your point is? I was getting impatient and upset. Tears were welling up in my eyes. I controlled them and kept them at bay.

The two immortals had to either kill, or be killed. Jala became trapped in the room they were in and I think you can figure it out from there. I'm sorry. But I don't know for sure if it really was Jala. The Iron prison can imitate and recreate things very well. You have to ask Zeus if it really was her. Either way, the immortals' names were never discovered, but no doubt they go to AA. They escaped the Iron Prison too, and maybe got the gift Zeus said he was going to deliver to the one who killed Jala. That is, if they killed the real one.

Okay. Okay. I'm not going insane, I'm not crazy, I'm not mad, I'm calm. I'm calm. I knew that thinking like this would only make me angrier. My fists balled up in my pockets and my eyes raged in anger. I composed myself, as I remembered that I was in class. Calvin just stared blankly. So two of my friends killed my mom. Cool. I forced a smile.

I will never understand how you do it. See you later. Lunch? he did the right thing. He didn't try to console me right away. He let me handle it for now. He knew what he was doing. The bell randomly rang. He ripped a piece of paper from his notebook and slid it on my desk before walking out the door. It wasn't a drawing, but it was absolutely beautiful. And elaborate. It seems Impossible how he make the piece in such a short period of time. The letters were impossibly drawn with incredible precision and beautiful colors. It was my name. Somehow, he made my name beautiful. He took something so disgustingly ugly and made it beautiful. Somehow, she shed some light into my life. No! I will not fall again! But this was different. No, I'm just fooling myself. Under the two beautiful words, it said "You're not alone." He was right.

And in the corner, his initials. CR.

Since I was in the top three times from the monthly, I had swimming instead of theatre class. What a relief. I only signed up for theatre so I wouldn't have to take a musical instrument. I knew I was going to have extra swimming classes anyway. I jumped a little when I walked out of the locker room. Sitting on a movable cart were a pair of familiar sunglasses. Black Oakleys just sitting on a cart. They looked like Rion's signature sunglasses. I'd recognize its gleam anywhere. I instinctively grabbed them and locked them in my locker. I'd take care of them later. Why would he forget his favorite piece of fashion on a cart?

Swim class was easy, as always. Dive, swim, turn, swim, and repeat. Over and over again. The class only had three people; Danica, Ieo and me. The instructor did practically nothing. He just sat in his chair and read a book. All he told us to do was swim. Which isn't all bad. We get to do pretty much anything, as long as we were in the water.

When he blew the whistle half an hour into the class, we took one of three breaks. It was only fifteen minutes to drink water and maybe have a granola bar. As I drank my water, I couldn't help but think about the immortals. Was Danica an immortal? Should I go ask her? Should I bring it up subtly? Should I convey it to her mentally? I mean, she'll only receive the message if she really is an immortal.

"Hello Raxitian," I walked over to her and Ieo. Apparently, I interrupted the conversation.

"Hello Digna," she replied kindly, "Do you need anything?" Of course I do, Dan. I mentally conveyed. If she could hear me, she was definitely an immortal.

"Oh, I just thought that maybe we could start over? You too Ieo. I haven't been nice to you at all," I out on my best behavior. You stole the love of my life.

"Umm. Sure. Why not?" Ieo said. Danica just nodded and tried to make her smile true. So she could hear me then.

"Cool. Um. In the past few days, I've felt like something in me woke up. And at the same time, I felt like some big part of me died. So I've decided to make this like a new life for me." Danica's face was suddenly hit with a pang of guilt. I could see it well under her perfect façade. She was a good cover up. I hate you for everything you never did. I don't need a reason to hate you. You took everything I had. Rion was all I had. I was banished from the only home I knew and I had nothing but Rion. And you took him away from me. I said in my mind.

"That's awesome! Lots of people don't take an opportunity like that, but some change their life by doing what you're doing now," Danica said. She wasn't mentally talking.

"Yeah. I just think it's time for a change. Do you guys want to sit with Dino, Gladys, and me at lunch?" I asked. Make the right decision. Isn't your element water? Then I'm the flame to you.

"Umm, actually we're eating with Gavin and Rion," Ieo said. She was completely oblivious to the taunts I was sending Dan. At least that's how I saw it.

"They can eat with us too, if you want. We could all sit together. There's another new student and I want to make his first day a good one," I said, smiling wide. Don't you dare refuse me. Not in front of Ieo.

"I guess that could work. We'll come over when we get the guys together," Dan said.

"Awesome!" I said. Coach blew another whistle and beckoned for us to huddle up. We were doing a relay. As many rounds in ten minutes as we could.

The rest of class was just swimming. I was excited for lunch.

"Hey," Gladys and Dino chorused.

"Hi. Umm I have some friends sitting with us today. Is that okay?" I asked. I set my stuff down where I always do, at the end of the bench.

"Yeah. Who? How many? And why?" Gladys asked. I could tell she wasn't very excited or happy. I pulled out my lunch box.

"Umm. It's an inside issue I want to discuss with them."

"Oh, then I'll just go and eat with the jocks. Want to come with me Gladys?" Dino asked. Gladys nodded.

"I'm only going because I hear there's a cute new guy. I just want to see what they say about him." At a loss of words, all I could do was nod.

"Okay, bye then!" I looked at my phone. I pretended to play a game while I waited for them to leave. Danica and the group walked over right when my other friends sat down at the "jock's" table. At least they all have a common sense. I blocked my mind from them so they couldn't read what I was thinking. I could care less about what they said about me.

"Hey new friends. And Rion," I forced a smile with an obvious undertone of annoyance. They forcefully sat down on the opposite bench so they were all lined up facing her. I don't know if really want to team up with them. Besides, I have no real reason to.

"Okay, let's get straight to the point. We know you're an immortal. We're willing to bet that your father told you about banding together," Rion said. I'm sure he was trying to get rid of the redness in his cheeks. I poured a mix of natural fruit juices into a red SOLO cup. I swished it around a bit and took a sip. Their red trays annoyed me at how identical they were.

"Correct. And you don't have to worry about anyone hearing us or knowing what we're talking about. There's a spell cast over us. Only us six, if you left some friends behind."A kid threw something away in the trashcan only a few feet from me. It was within arm's reach.

"Six? I only count five," Ieo said. Her eyes shifted color like they always do. She was agitated. I memorized her eye patterns, even if I don't look at her much.

"Yes six. And uh. About having to team up with you four. I assumed you all also got a message from one of your parents up in the clouds. Why do we have to stick together?" I asked. I was getting impatient with the group in front of me. They were eating like they were all being forced to eat.

"We don't know, but we do know about one other issue. Jala. Are you familiar with her?" I crushed the pathetic plastic cup just barely over the trashcan at the mention of Jala. The small amount of remaining juice dripped into the trashcan. I disposed the cup and wiped my hand, smiling all the way. It was an instantaneous act. I couldn't hold back. I was so angry.

"Yes. Since we're all getting comfortable with each other, why don't you guys tell me why you know about her and what you know about her?" I bit right through a piece of beef jerky. One bite and there was a solid curve in the dried piece of meat. It was easy. Like biting cheese. I always had strong jaws, but I never knew why.

"Why should we tell you first? Why don't you spill the beans first?" Danica said, her water bottle slightly moving. She made me furious. I leaned closer to them, eyeing each one dreadfully. My stare could kill.

"Because I'm sacrificing enough and eating with you people and trying to be nice to you. The least you can do is open up first." I could feel my head literally heating up. No one else could see anything happening at that table. To mortals, it looked like the five of us just talking about school.

"Sacrificing being nice? You could've done that when you met us. And your friends? We have no control over that. They left on their own motive," Ieo's face was no longer even trying to be polite. My hair flamed. It literally came up in flames it burned the hair dye and revealed the red and steel hair I kept underneath. I could feel my eyes flaring too. I stood up, proud. I was no longer the idiot blonde trying to be smart. I was now becoming the daughter of Jala and Hermes. The flames were at my arms and lower torso. They didn't hurt me, but sure was bright. I was a little surprised at how I was acting.

"You will tell me first or I'll burn you up!" I shouted at Danica. She seemed unfazed by my display. She stood up and the water bottle emptied itself and surrounded her like the flames were surrounding me. There we were, face to face, element to element. I was just staring her down. Her eyes were too soft to show any threat. We just stood there for a few intense minutes, staring at each other in disgust and hate. A few seconds before I was sure I was going to strike her with my flaming fist, Rion stood up and followed suit. His flames engulfed his being and he let out a cry of anger.

"Sit down! You fight fire with fire! You try to hurt her, you have to kill me first!" he yelled. His flames were brighter than mine and were surrounding him more.

"You hurt them, you have to get me too!" Gavin stood up, followed my Ieo. Gavin's element was metal. Surprisingly, Iedoun had ice as her element. I flared my flames at the display, the lower flames becoming blue and cascading into purple where it met the red tips of the fire.

"What are you going to do now? Take all of four of us on? You're only fire. We're fire, water, metal, and ice. Wait, Ice? Ieo? You're an ice descendant?" his flames died down a little, but not so much that they were weaker than mine. Ieo nodded, still staring me down.

"Ten minutes into lunch and if I hadn't cast this spell on us, you would've just shown the entire world that people like us exist," a familiar voice said. It reminded me of a bear's roar. The four immediately snuffed out any signs of them having elements and quickly sat down and ate. It was like their mother had screamed at them to eat their vegetables.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met yet," Rion said, pretending to only just then see Calvin. I let my flames gradually die down. The blonde returned to my hair. I still had the anger welled up inside me and my fists still tightly clenched.

"Calvin Ronin. And you are?" Calvin sat down. I assumed he had already finished eating, since he brought no food with him.

"Rion Bleudoux, Danica Raxitian, Iedoun Charome, and Gavin Hilt," I said, pointing to each of them.

"Rion Bleudoux? The lucky mortal?" he asked. Urgh, how many celebrities did this guy have?

"Yep. The one and only!" Rion exclaimed happily. His mouth was full of food, but he still managed to smile perfectly and look adorable.

"Cool. So what was happening here before I walked over?" Calvin flashed a toothy grin, identical to Rion and Gavin's. I softened at his smile.

"Digna here was complaining about why it was our fault that Gladys and Dino moved to the jock's table. She also thinks it's her personal sacrifice when she's trying to be nice to us. What do you think?" Gavin replied. I didn't like his wording, but that's the way it came out of my mouth too.

"I think… that was an unfair match. I mean, four against one. Come one, what are the chances?" Calvin said. That had to be the dumbest response ever.

"Well, that just proves that we were right, and she was wrong. So spill everything you know about Jala, Digna," Rion said.

"Okay. I know that two immortals who go to AA killed her, or a 'copy'," I put air quotes around 'copy', "the two guys entered the Iron Prison through the Iron shield and escaped the room. Would you, by any chance know who those two murderers were?" I was being very dramatic. To put emphasis in my questions in an as-a-matter-of-factly way.

"We actually do. And we also trust that it was only a copy. Why are you acting all affected? It's not like she was a part of your life or anything," Rion said, sipping some of his juice. I flamed up again and stood up. I leaned it to his face.

"You know nothing! You know me by this blonde hair! You know me by my arrogance! But you don't know me by who I am!" I screamed in his face. His flames erupted and he stood up too, shortly followed by the other in their bursting elemental surroundings. What was I going to do now? I was four to one. I flared my flames again. Apparently Rion could do it too and made all his fire blue. Danica made her water into mini crashing waves. Gavin spiked his element and Ieo had a little blizzard going. They were all up in my face like they were saying 'what are you going to do now?' I was just swirling my flames. I was powerless against them combined. I was about to give up when I remembered Calvin was still there.

"Oh, what fun. You four might've won if we brought this to a field," he said. How was he going to degrade me this time?! That's all he's been doing!

"Thanks, buddy. We would've," Gavin said, still staring at me hard like the others.

"Then again, maybe not," Calvin added.

"What are you talking about? It's four different elements against one? How could she possibly win?" Rion said. It hurt my feeling a little. How would he feel if I punched Danica? Only one way to find out. Before I could Calvin and his clever tongue came up with a genius response.

"You're forgetting that we have one more player in this game. Me," he flared his element, which didn't look like one at all. It was just a mass of swirling black clouds. His eyes turned a very attractive shade of deep purple. Some dark clouds flowed up to his hair and made it a rich dark black color. He looked like slightly like a vampire.

"And what game changing element is this? Dracula?" Danica said, unimpressed. He touched an apple on her tray. It instantly died and shriveled up. The pathetic prune-like… thing sat in front of Danica.

"Dark magic. The most powerful of all the elements when paired with fire. I think Digna and I could take you four down. This is a more even match," Calvin grinned again. That smile was never going to die .

"Oh yeah, I remember that from the academy now. I forgot because dark magic is a rare element. How are you a dark child?" Gavin asked. His spikes and what not receded.

"Same reason why Rion's immortal," he returned to normal. Danica and I were still powerfully staring each other down. She wanted to punch me. It showed greatly. The others had already calmed down and hid their elements. It was only Dan and I. Oh, how good it would feel to punch her.

She picked up one of her fists, surrounded it with water, and she swung at me. She tried to punch me. We were so close, if I wasn't burning she might've actually hit me. I caught her watery fist with my flaming hand. I was squeezing her fist and pushing it back, but she wouldn't give in. I tried burning her hand fiercely, but it wasn't working.

"sweetheart, you might want to open your eyes. Your fire is hot," Calvin said through his gritted teeth. I just realized that Calvin's hand was under mine. He caught Danica's fist before I did. He caught something before me. Just barely. No one was ever faster than me. He was pushing most of Danica's punch toward her. One of his dark and scary clouds misted up his arm and was slowly making its way up Danica's arm. Her expression changed in pain. She let out a cry of excruciating pain. She pulled her hand away, but Calvin and I kept ours there. His hand was warm and comforting… I pulled away and killed my flames. I left the cafeteria and reached my next class, which I thankfully didn't have with Calvin, right when the bell rang that marked the end of lunch. What was I doing? Why was there something flying in my stomach? Why did I not swing at Danica first? Why did I let go? Why did I walk out on them? Do not be too hard on yourself child. This is how it will be for a small amount of time. You'll warm up to them. Eventually. That voice again.

Dad? I asked him mentally. God of mischief?

Yes. There is something bad about to happen. Take care of yourself Digania. That's all he said.

Chapter 21: Badly Burned {Ieo}

I let my snow melt and I calmed down. Oh how I wanted to hit Digna. I had no time to yell at Digna. Danica was hurt. Apparently, this Calvin moron had some rare element. His smoky cloud attacked Danica's arm and made her shout in pain. He had disappeared from the cafeteria and I had no patience to look for him. Danica was clutching her left arm.

Naturally, Rion was the first to freak out and rush to Dan's side, cradling her from the floor. I took a smarter action and made a blob of water and made it mold to the shape of Danica's affected arm area. I let it freeze and allowed it to melt when Danica felt better. I made sure that no one was looking. If they were staring, then that meant that the spell had worn off and people could see what was really happening. Thankfully, it all looked like four kids eating lunch.

"Are you okay? Are you seriously hurt? Do you need to go to the nurse? To the hospital? To the pool?" Rion bombarded her with questions.

"Do you need anything?" I asked. I trimmed Rion's question into one so Danica wouldn't have too much to think about.

"No. I think I'm fine. Besides, what am I going to tell the doctors?" Danica sat up and examined the slight burn mark. It looked like the shadow of smoke. It was very faint and unnoticeable for the most part.

"True. Are you sure you're fine?" Gavin asked. I was happy at how I wasn't his only concern.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just… confused," she dumped her tray and stacked the red tray like a puzzle on top of a few already stacked trays above the trashcan. "I'm fine."

"Just to be sure, here." I made a small layer of unmeltable ice. It was about the length of a ruler and twice as wide. It was paper thin, so when she used it, it wasn't uncomfortable. "Just stick it to your skin when it hurts and the ice will mold to your arm. It won't melt, fold, or break." She took it in her hands.

"Thanks. I could use this. Will it fall off?" she asked. She tapped it on the table to test how strong it was.

"Not unless you peel it off. It's not too cold, so you won't get a frost bite or anything," I said.

"Thanks Ieo," Rion said, "We'll go ahead. I have a few questions for Dr. Grey before class starts. Bye."

"Okay, see you guys later. Be careful," Gavin called. He turned to me, "That was really nice. Do you want to keep eating?" I shook my head. I lost my appetite. He took both our trays and took care of them.

"Well, I'll go ahead to class. Don't want to be late," I said.

"I'll walk you. You don't need a burn mark like Dan. We don't even know exactly what it is, so I'll walk you to class and drop you off at home. Is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks. That would be great. I don't want to sit with Gladys on the bus," I said, laughing a little. He smiled brightly. His smile was exactly like the one Rion and Calvin wore. Weird.

"Let's go?" he asked. I nodded.

"Why do you think Digna acted like that when we mentioned Jala?" he asked.

"I think she knows something very important that she won't share," I said, dodging a passerby.

"I think she's the daughter of Jala." How do you just openly jump to conclusions? I wish I could do that and always be right.

"How do you ask a subtle question and all of sudden jump to conclusions?" I asked.

"Think about it. Let's say your friend doesn't know that your mom was your mom. If your mom was killed and you barely got the chance to know her, then the murderer came up to you, wouldn't you be mad? If your enemy told you to spill all the information you knew about your mom in return for even more information, wouldn't you want them to tell you first? Her flames flared like her Jala's, except instead of blue, purple and red, it was green and blue. It's not impossible, you know. There is a reason why she was our first target." He made a good point.

"Oh yeah, huh. But why didn't she just tell us straight up that Jala was her mom?"

"Maybe she didn't want us to know so soon. She'll eventually admit to it. She might've even just found out. I mean, she was separated from her mother a few hours after she was born. I doubt Hermes told her about her mother's details." He was so smart. I know it's dumb, but he really is smart.

"Or maybe that juice she was drinking made her into the hulk. Where do you get all your ideas?" I laughed hard at my own joke. I was that funny. He joined in my hysteria.

"You know, that is one of the hardest questions anyone has ever asked me," he said.

"One of the hardest? One you can't answer? Really?" I asked all excited.

"Nope." My excitement went back to normal level. My expression read seriously? My eyes narrowed.

"I'm smart because I do all the paperwork no one in Olympus wants to do. That's all I do up there. Paperwork that no one else does. That's all I do up there," he said.

"I'm sure you have some sort of hobby or something. That can't be the only thing you do up there."

"Umm, nope. That's all I do. No-thing else. It's because there are some people out there who were born to have no sole purpose other than to work. No excitement in their lives," he said. That can't be, he had to something other than that.

"Don't you have anything one anyone you come home to? Anything that changes your schedule?" I was so intrigued. How can you live with no purpose?

"Nope. I have never ever loved anyone. Ever. Because I have no true purpose and I'm a natural workaholic. They exist you know. Not many, but they're out there," he said like it was no big deal. This made my heart sink.

"That's a lie. I know you like someone. It's impossible to live as long as you have without taking an interest with anyone. Come on, who is it?" I playfully pushed him.

"No one. It probably won't even happen," he said.

"Ever?"

"Never ever. I don't care who it is, it won't happen."

"Really? How many exceptions? I know that there's at least one," I said.

"Only one exception, but she'd never look at me the way I see her. It's impossible."

"Oh, that's so sad. Do you know why? Because I know a girl who has the biggest crush on you! It's her very first crush too, so this is very sad news. She'll be depressed when this news reaches her," I said. I made a pouty face.

"Seriously? Who! Tell me! Now!" he suddenly got all excited and started shaking me lightly to tell him the answer.

"Why should I? I mean, you said that you don't care who it is because you will never fall in love. Why should I burden you with the thought that there is one person whose life you ruined? A girl's first crush is very special Gav. You can't just walk up to her and say 'I'm sorry but I can never like you because I'm a natural workaholic and no matter who it is, I can't love.' That would crush her. I'll keep this a secret though," I teased him. He'd would have to tell me now.

"No, I don't care. just TELL ME!" he begged.

"Not until you tell me who the exception is. Even if I don't know her, I still want to know," I said.

"You do know her," I heard him say under his breath.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said 'TELL ME NOW!' Please tell me!" He really wanted to know.

"Not unless you tell me your cru-ush," I teased in a singsong voice.

"Okay then," he finally said.

"So you'll tell me?!" I exclaimed a little more excited than I anticipated.

"Nope. I'll just have to live without your one little fact," he said.

"I hate surprises. Why can't you be predictable for once?" I said, annoyed. I really wanted to know who his crush was, but if he told me, then I'd have to tell him who had a crush on him. I honestly was relieved that he refused to tell me his crush. Although, it did send all these crazy ideas to my mind.

"Life would be too easy if I was predictable. Do you want life to boring?" he asked.

"Of course not. Boring sucks. If I wanted a boring life, I would've lived life without you," I said. I hoped that meant something to him.

"Ha. Ha. Real funny." He gave it no meaning. My heart hurt a little.

"It's true. If you didn't have a purpose, then the cosmos wouldn't have sent you down here on earth. It would've just kept you up there to do paperwork. So that means you're supposed to do something important here on earth," I thought it might help him.

"Okay, then what am I supposed to do? Watch over you or something?" he laughed. What was he doing? Was this his way of …

Okay, then. If you want to be mean like that. I mentally said.

No! I was just kidding. I'm sorry. He instantly responded.

Oh please. Then I'm kidding. I said.

Okay, this is obviously not working, umm. What is this? What is going on here? He asked.

Umm, I don't know. I was just playing. I don't know what you were doing though. I was also sensing something wrong, but I didn't know what it was.

Okay, let's cut the sarcasm because there's some miscommunication somewhere here. I don't want to be on your bad side.

Good choice Gav.

You know, I should have a nickname for you too, since you have one for me. He was giving me a nickname!

Umm. But you already call me Ieo.

But that's what everyone calls you. I want to have a special nickname for you. I mean, not everyone calls me Gav. Only you. because I only let you call me Gav.

Aww. Nice. Let me…How about… Don? Like Ieo-Don, but without Ieo. I suggested. Did I really want to be called that?

No. Definitely not. How about I just call you by your last name. Charome. I like it. It sounds pretty. Charome. Char-ome. Charome. That wasn't actually that bad. My name on his tongue sent tingles up my spine.

I guess that could work. I mean, I do have a pretty last name. That works. Charome and Gav. I like it. Your last name is cool too. Hilt. Gav Hilt. Charome. Hilt and Charome. I like it. I thought.

What do you like? Charome or my last name? He laughed. I had to join him. No one could resist that laugh.

Ha ha wise guy. Well, here's World History, the world's most boring class. Bye Hilt, see you later. I walked in the classroom where Gavin didn't follow.

Bye Charome.

Class was boring as usual. I did nothing but literally sleep in that class. It's not like Mrs. Vera would actually make you take notes or even pay attention. All your grades were based on tests only. I knew all the material anyway, I read the whole textbook in the beginning of the year and I still remember the whole thing.

Apparently, Gavin was also asleep. He entered my dream and I was dreaming about playing my favorite child hood sport. Wall ball.

"Hey Char. Watch doing?" he walked over to the court.

"Just playing. I used to play this game all the time, but as I got older, I've had less and less time to play until I eventually stopped altogether," I said. I served the ball again. I was the champion at this sport. I beat all the kids back in elementary. The court was made up of one wall and the court was whatever space was directly in front of the wall. There were some lines marking certain measurement, but no one ever paid attention to them. it was just hit the ball, run, and hit it again. He leaned against the wall and I nearly hit him. He didn't even flinch.

"I used to play too. When I was a lot younger. When I grew up, I immediately went to the office. I used to be the best," he said. He held his hands out as a signal for me to pass him the ball. I threw it to him.

"You want to serve?" I asked. Of course he did, who wouldn't?

"Yep. Always. Can you hit passed the second line?" he asked. His serve was the most common. I didn't serve like that, but the results were similar. He weakly threw the ball against the wall, making sure it only bounced once before he hit it with amazing force. Naturally, I hit it back against the wall. I had to slightly jump since he hit it higher than I'm used to.

"I want to serve. Let's go for as long as we can. Infinity round," I said. I ran up to wall, dropped the ball a few feet away from the wall, and hit the ball with a swinging motion. I made sure the ball hit the ground only once each time.

From the second line, Gavin hit it and it made the wall shake. I had to run way past Gavin and hit it backwards to make it hit the wall. After a couple more hard hits, he hit it very softly and barely made any movement, which made me run as fast as I could towards the wall.

When I hit the ball, I forgot to slow down and put my hands out in front of me to cushion my impact against the wall. How did I forget that? That's usually what I always pay attention to, besides not tripping on any gravel in the court.

Surprisingly, the wooden wall wasn't as hard as I expected it to be. It was always cold and unforgiving when I rammed into it. I lay there, slumped against the wall with my eyes closed, but still standing. I have no idea why I stayed there. Usually, I'd be running circles around the court and successfully ricochet the ball against the wall, no matter where it went. I heard the ball bounce multiple times, as if it was let alone to go wherever. Wasn't Gavin supposed to hit the ball when I rushed towards the wall?

I realized something. Gavin wasn't anywhere near the ball, which was a good twenty feet from me. I also realized that I hadn't run into the wall at all. The wall was smooth, hard, cold, and it didn't wrap its arms around you when you rammed into it. The wall I was against had arms, it was warm, and had rigid muscles. Actually, it was more like a wall of muscle.

" Aren't you a bunny. You run all over the court," said a warm voice in my ear. I didn't really want to open my eyes, but I did anyway. I rammed into Gavin. He was inches from the wall, which meant that I ran into him without making him move at all from his place when he hit the ball softly. I got off him and straightened myself out.

"It's what I'm known for. I almost never got out," I said, avoiding looking at him.

"Okay, why do I feel tension between us? I feel like you're trying to ignore me or something. Is there something I did?" he asked. He stepped forward. I stepped back, still not looking at him.

"No, we're fine. Why would you think that there was tension between us?" I said nervously. I still didn't look at him I went to get the ball, which was actually closer than I thought.

"Uh, maybe the fact that you're not looking at me right now. Or maybe that you haven't really been talking to me lately. It's like there's something you're not telling me. What is it?" he asked. I stood in front of him and looked at him. He was much taller than me so I had to look up to him. Those eyes held no particular expression.

"I am looking at you and talking to you. There's nothing wrong. That's that," I said.

"When I analyze what you just said, you didn't say that you weren't hiding anything. What is it? You can tell me anything," he grabbed my shoulders like a child. His eyes were changing colors, like how a mood ring changes color, except much faster. The green swirled to pink.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I wasn't really into sharing feelings. I was always a stubborn and defensive child.

"Yeah, of course. Anything for you."

"There's this guy I like, but I know, like I'm certain, that he won't like me back," I said. His eyes turned blue. A greyish, and plain blue. He was moody.

"Oh, who's the lucky guy?" he let go of me.

"It doesn't matter," I said. I felt bad inside, but I smiled true.

"Let's play!" he smiled. I could tell he was trying to change his eye color, but I've learned that he has a tough time changing his eyes when they automatically change accordingly to his mood. The green was struggling to overcome the sad blue, but the blue was not going anywhere. I served, scared that he caught me staring. I served the way I always do. Stand back, run up to the wall, drop the ball a few feet from the wall, and hit the ball hard. We hit the ball against the wall back and forth for a pretty long time. After a few Slidies, the wall looked like it was going to give at any time. I was the only girl who knew how to do a Slidie when I was younger. I still got it.

Out of nowhere, on one of my perfect hits, he caught the ball, stopping the great game we were having.

"What the heck? That was a great game. Why'd you- oh~ okay then," I stopped talking when he randomly hugged me. I hugged him back after a few seconds. He had to bend down slightly to comfortably hug me. His hugs were always warm and comforting, even when everything else about him said otherwise. I gave into the hug and forgot about the game. I was just hugging Gavin. He said nothing.

We just stood there, in the middle of the court, in the middle of the pretend playground, in the middle of the school, in the middle of the city, in the middle of the continent, in the middle of the world, in the middle of the galaxy, in the middle of the universe, in the middle of us . When he pulled away, he gave a simple smile and left. I was too dumbfounded to do anything and he didn't say anything, so I didn't feel like I really had to. After watching him walk through the cloud door, I left too, knowing that the bell was probably about to ring.

I lifted my head off the desk and regretted that I chose a seat directly under the clanging bell. I continued the rest of my day with Gavin. We were talking all the time, but there was always a lingering sensation of awkwardness between us. Neither one of us brought up the topic anymore, since we already knew where the conversation would be headed.

Chapter 22: Some Truthful, Some Not {Rion}

"Are you sure you're okay? We could stay in the nurse's office all period. Or I could drive to the hospital, if you want," I said. She was burned by dark magic, an element I don't have much knowledge about. Calvin Ronin was not mutated. He was not a mutation. Because I wasn't. He was the son of two dark gods. If he has to lie, then there's a good reason. When there's a good reason, Rion Bleudoux will know it. I'll play along to find out.

"I already told you I'm fine. The doctors wouldn't believe whatever we'd tell them anyway. It's just a slight burn. It's kinda cool, actually. It's like a smoke tattoo," she joked. Her skin was oddly still smooth, but those smoky markings were still there. They were unnatural, but fortunately very faint. They would be easy to hide.

"Okay. Whatever you say. But if it starts acting up, tell me first, okay?" I asked. If she didn't want to go now, it wouldn't hurt to be sure that she would tell me if anything happened.

"Yes, dad," she mocked, "loosen up, it's just a burn." She punched my arm playfully.

"Okay. I just don't want you hurt. Phil would kill me," I said.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Like Phil is the real reason. Are you okay? You were the most dramatic and the only one over reacting. I only screamed because it was dead cold. Like, liquid nitrogen just being poured on your skin. It was seriously cold. I felt like my arm was going to fall off." I took her hand.

"Well I'm relieved it's still attached to you. Otherwise, I'd be holding a dead piece of meat," I laughed.

"I will get you back. Just watch."I was laughing pretty hard when she suddenly pushed me against the wall of the hallway using her entire body , but leading with the hips. I was too busy laughing to remain standing.

"Told you I'd get you back."

"Yeah, well a pin from the bulletin board stabbed my arm pretty deep, and now I think I'm bleeding. Definitely your fault," I said. She immediately panicked and rushed to examine nothing. She slapped my arm where she thought the stab wound was. I hadn't stopped laughing.

"Urgh! I hate you," she lied. She eventually gave in and laughed along.

"Oh, I'm sure you hate me. Let's go. I don't want to be late because my nurse didn't help my injury."

Hey, found some info. Meet up Ohio's Best in 1 hour. –Ieo C. The text appeared on the screen of my phone at around three in the afternoon. What information was this? What kind of information could be so important to ruin by nap? I was still sleepy but my body told me to get up. I took a cold shower to wake me up and got dressed in my usual comfortable white t-shirt, leather jacket, and skinny jeans. I took more time to do my hair than get dressed.

I memorized exactly how to fix my hair perfectly. You gel, comb and then fix all the small stuff. I used to comb, gel, and then fix the small stuff.

I walked out of my room and wrote a note to my parents.

Went out with Dan OB. Will be back before 10 pm.

-Rion

My parents always wanted to know where I was in case anything happened. They didn't know about my immortality, so they always played it safe with me. The car keys gleamed in the afternoon sun across the perfectly angled window. The keys were still as shiny as they were when I first got them. I taped the note to the dinner table and grabbed the keys. I made sure to lock both doors and every lock on my way out.

I drove to Ohio's Best in my prized green Kia Soul. I left my everyday Mustang at the repair shop. The brakes needed checking. I didn't want to die in a Mustang because I was too insecure to kill the fashion. A few blocks from Ohio's Best, I remembered that my parents went out on their cruise. I forgot that their departure was today. That meant… I'd have to whole house to myself for a week! All the things my parents would never let me do…

When I arrived, Carmin greeted me.

"Oh, so you guys are just meeting up this time. They're over there in the third booth. The one that's usually for big parties. Your numbers seem to be increasing every visit," she said. I walked over and there was Danica, Ieo, and Gavin. I automatically sat next to Danica.

"You would," I heard Gavin say under his breath.

"Ahem, you sat next to your girlfriend before I even arrived," I pointed out. There was food already at the table. It was identical to the four trays we had last time we got together. This time, there were an extra two trays. The dessert was not chosen yet.

"Who are the extra trays for?" I asked. The two guests walked to the booth in response. Digna and Calvin. Immediately stood up in protest and walked up to Calvin. He stopped in his tracks. I bunched up his shirt in both fists and kept a meaningful expression on my face. I lifted him slightly off the ground even if he stood a good two inches above me. He was fighting back and trying to pry his shirt from my fists. Danica and Digna were up in flames and waves. Ieo was casting the blinding spell.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed through my gritted teeth.

"Accepting the invite," he replied.

"They invited you?" I said. I turned to Ieo and Gavin they both nodded.

"Now, uh, could I have my shirt back? There's a girl waiting for me. And you," he said. I didn't let go. I flamed and he did his swirly dark cloud…thingy. He sent clouds down my arms, but my fire intensified and kept my arms from freezing. It was incredibly cold.

I sparked and the clouds that touched me caught on fire. The flaming clouds swirled and did their own little thing. It wasn't purely fire, but it wasn't purely dark magic either. It looked like it was fighting itself. This was the power Calvin was talking about. Dark magic when paired with fire was so fierce, it fought itself. All of a sudden, my flames went out. I was soaked. Danica sent a wave crashing into me. I let go of Calvin and came back to my senses. I was so mad, I forgot we were out in public.

"Wake up!" Danica's voice hit my ears like the cold water. I flamed enough so I was dry. She was wearing a disappointed expression. I slumped down into the booth. Digna and Calvin sat across from Dan and me.

"Why are they here? They could hurt someone again," I hissed at Ieo. I had to hiss at Gavin too if I didn't want him messing with me.

"We don't want to be here with you guys as much as you don't want to be with us. We're only here because we made promises to the gods, and you know what happens when you break a god's promise. We'd rather be in a room with you than die. Surprisingly," Calvin said. I showed no joy at all. I could feel myself literally heating up.

"Do I need to restrain both of you? I could have your hands frozen in no time. I might even freeze them together if you two don't stop fighting," Ieo said. Her harsh voice was new to me so I stopped. I noticed Dan and Digna were having the same problems, but silently.

"We called you here because we know that the god's ordered all of us to band together. I have this," Ieo said. She pulled out a document. The writing was printed on expensive parchment. It had a low, yellow glow around the edges. It was from the office in Olympus.

"Oh, god. When I try to escape it, it follows me. Why is there paperwork from Olympus in your hands?" Gavin asked.

"I printed this for us to sign and follow. All of us." Ieo said.

The document read:

None of us are happy with what we have to do. We don't want to team up with our enemies, but each and every one of us promised one god that we would, no matter what. I'm willing to sell my soul to Hades if the gods didn't make us promise because they knew that some of us are against each other. Nonetheless, we all have to work together. Against what, we have no idea. What for, we are also clueless.

I will do my part in whatever this team-up wishes for me to accomplish. I will go out of my way to do so. If I fail, my soul is open for Hades' use of whatever he wishes. I will do my best to keep myself and each other alive. I will climb this mountain until I reach the top. I will not let anyone sacrifice themselves for, or because of me. My element is unique, and I am essential to the team's success. This will immediately be put action at the moment I complete my signature. I will use my element to its extent. I will not hesitate to use my element when it is needed most. I will do my part in this team. I understand that once my soul is open to Hades, I have no control over what I am forced to do. When my actions are dangerously close to breaking of these promises, there will be a warning before my soul goes to Hades.

I agree to these terms and understand that my role in the group is already chosen. I will control myself as far as I can. Signed in blood by,

Iedoun Germaine Charome X_Ieo G. Charome .

Gavenus Hiliston X Gav Hilt .

Danica Raxitian X_

Rion Larx Bleudoux X_

Digania Mantius Lentosa X_

Caltus Jay Ronin X_

There were only two signatures. I thought this was a good treaty. It would keep Calvin and Digna of my tail. It looked like Calvin and Digna were thinking the same thing.

"I'll sign it. It think it's fair," Calvin said. He took one of the quills in the center of the table and cut his finger with one of the steak knives. He dipped his the feather in his blood and signed his name. The cut healed when he was done. Digna followed suit and let out a low whimper when the knife cut her skin. I remembered how she used to squeal when the smallest things happened to her. That was a long time ago and things have changed. Sometimes, I wonder how life would be like if Dan never came into mine.

I took the parchment on one hand and a quill in the other. I looked over the paper again to find any mistakes. Last time I signed a contract with mistakes, it didn't go well. When I came to the conclusion that it was mistake-free, I cut my finger and signed the paper. Before I passed it to Danica, a question popped in my head.

"Does it have to be signed in your own blood?" Ieo looked for an answer to my question.

"No. The paper doesn't say so, so I guess not." Ieo started eating along with Gavin, Calvin and Digna.

Use my blood. I thought to Danica.

What? Why? She replied. She started eating too.

Just do it. I don't want to watch you hurt yourself on purpose. Please? I held out my bloody finger. She took the quill and the contract.

But what if I'm supposed to sign it in my own blood?

You don't have to. Besides, my finger is already cut.

Okay. If you say so. I'm not sure. But if I screw up, then Hades will be open to your soul, not mine. I don't want you to pay for something you didn't do. She reasoned.

Then if you sign it with my blood, it'll just pressure you to not screw up even more. Besides, who said you were going to mess this up? You're Danica, you don't do that. She smiled and signed in my blood. I closed up my wound using my element and dug into the food.

By the way, Dad is on a business trip. I'm home alone and free! She said.

Really? Mine are in that cruise they've been planning for over three years! That means we're going to both be home alone! I thought.

Cool. Think of the things I could do at home that Dad would never let me do! I loved her enthusiasm.

The feast was fairly quiet. Digna, Calvin, Ieo and Gavin talked the most. Dan pitched in every now and then. When I did talk, I made comebacks at Calvin and defended anything he tried to trash.

"Hey, Rion why have you been so mean to me? Did I do something wrong?" Calvin asked. The French fry didn't make it into my mouth. I stopped eating, and so did everyone else. We all looked at Calvin. "Cal," Digna hissed.

"You want to know why I hate you?" I asked calmly with a sly smile on my face.

"Well, yeah," he answered, not being able to take a hint. I took Danica's arm, as gently as I possibly could in my anger. I slowly pulled her sleeve down, revealing her arm.

"Do you see this? These smoky shadows?" I asked. He nodded."Do you know why she has these?"

"Umm. No?" he asked. I didn't know if he was pretending, or if he really didn't know. He couldn't have forgotten that. I calmly let go of Danica's arm and violently jumped up from seat and grabbed his shirt from across the table.

"No?" I yelled. I was glad Ieo had the spell over us, so it looked like there was no problem. "You don't know?! You don't know that you did this to her?! You forgot that you burned her saving Digna from a punch she probably deserved?!" Dan was trying to pull me back into my seat by my jacket. Calvin flamed (or swirled), Digna flamed, I flamed, we all flame! Yay.

"Those aren't burn marks! LEMME GO!" Calvin screamed like a five year old. I let go and slumped back into the booth. My flames were still burning. The whole restaurant would be up in flames if the elements weren't harnessed by magic.

"Then what are they?!" I asked. Actually, yelled. I ran my hand over Dan's arm with the markings.

"You know your gift? From slaying Jala? I'm the one who delivers it to you! I'm the one who decides if you really do deserve it or not! So far, you've been nothing but mean and unreasonable to me! You instantly thought that I burned her, without asking me first! You leaped before you looked." He took a second to calm down.

I was sure he would've pounced on me if Digna's hand wasn't in his. He sighed when he calmed down completely. "Gifts are meant for heroes. True, loving, real heroes. Do you think you deserve that gift now?"

I felt ashamed of myself. He was right. I didn't think of what it was, or what it could be. I instantly thought they were burn marks. But it was natural for me to think like that. I mean, Dan almost never screams. The last time she screamed was when she got her wisdom teeth pulled out. Thank god she didn't cry. Also, who wouldn't freak out if someone they cared for got hurt in front of their own eyes? And what else could leave marks like those? I don't care what Calvin says, inside, I was not wrong.

"Say what you want to say. Classify me as hero or not, I don't care. I don't care if I don't get that gift anymore. I don't think I was wrong to think that you hurt Dan. I don't regret any part of what I did. I stand my ground," I proudly said. Danica smiled in approval. I smiled back.

"See, I gave it to Danica temporarily until I figured out if you really deserved the gift or not. I think I have made my fair judgment," he said. I honestly didn't care about the gift anymore. I was okay with just knowing that even though my judgment was wrong, making that particular judgment wasn't.

"Oh, Mighty Caltus, what dear judgment have you possibly come up with?" I asked.

"Dan, give me your hand. The one with the marks. Digna or Rion, I need one of you too. I need someone from fire," Calvin rolled up his sleeves as he was talking. Danica gave Calvin her marked arm. Digna and I both held out our arms, unclear who would be used. I looked up at her. She pulled her arm away, getting the message.

"Since I know what Danica means to you, you can hold her hand." I did so and rolled up my sleeve. I had no idea what or why I was doing this, but I was holding her hand, so I didn't care. Calvin put his hand on top ours and muttered something I couldn't hear clear enough to decipher. I was definitely not English. He flamed. His clouds weren't dark, they were a royal shade of dark purple.

"Flame," Calvin commanded. I did so, but I could feel Danica uneasy at my flame. Water and fire did not mix well, if at all."Slowly pull your hands to form like a sphere or something. Make a shape that could hold material in it."

Danica and I pulled our hands away slowly. After a foot of space formed between our hands, we opened and slightly curled our fingers, like we were holding a basketball between our hands. Calvin mimicked our hand shape and held his hand centrally above the invisible basketball. Calvin muttered some more words and some water, fire, and a purple cloud came onto the center of our hands. They combined and swirled until they "mixed". I was like watching a tumbleweed being made.

The elements didn't mix so much that you couldn't figure out which elements they were made of. There were some places where it was purely water, or purely fire. The clouds became gold and the whole ball brightened. All of sudden, my hand was repelled out of the ritual. I thought something was wrong, but since Calvin didn't freak out, then it must be normal.

I just sat there and watched. I ate some more food, as Danica and Calvin were still stuck in that position. Their eyes were closed and Calvin was still muttering. The ball started to spin. It spun slowly at first, but then it got faster. After a few minutes, we finished all the food and had the trays collected by Carmin, who thought Dan and Calvin were praying. The ball started to spin dangerously fast. Neither Dan or Calvin moved. Calvin was done muttering spells and commands.

"What's going on? I can't contact either one of them," Digna said.

"I don't know, but it's about to end," Ieo said. Dan and Calvin's eyes snapped open. They were glowing so bright, I couldn't see their pupils. Dan and Calvin started screaming and everything went bright.

When everything was back to being its own color, Dan and Calvin snapped out of the ritual and whatever was left of the elemental tumbleweed was a small pearl. It looked like the ball before the clouds turned gold. You could still see the elements moving. The water raging, the fire burning, and the clouds spinning. Calvin picked it up and put it in my hand.

"Here you go Rion. All you have to do is swallow it." I eyed him suspiciously.

"What is it going to do to me?" I asked.

"Can you just trust me for once? Swallow it," he repeated. I guess it wouldn't hurt, right? I swallowed the pearl. It had a sweet taste to it, like ambrosia and nectar. As soon as I felt it enter my stomach, I felt it start to burn. I felt the pearl break and it was burning in my stomach. I started to yell in pain.

"What did you do to me?!" I yelled. Dan was trying to figure out what was happening to me. I saw worry spelled across her face. I knew it'd been a long time since I've acted like this. I was clutching my stomach and trying not to writhe, although it was very difficult. After a while, it started to cool down, like there was ice in my stomach. It was now burning my stomach with the coldness. Much like what Danica probably felt when Calvin 'burned' her yesterday. The marks on Dan's arm were slowly fading, but I was now crying, so I didn't know if I was happy or miserable.

"Calm down, you'll be fine." Calvin was acting like I wasn't dying or anything. I was unsure whether I should be angry at him, or just bear with him. I decided to play the nice guy.

"Is it supposed to be hurting this much?!" I asked. I muffed my yells into my jacket's sleeve.

"Yep," was all Calvin replied.

"Cal, do something! You can't just let him suffer like this! Please," I heard Digna shout.

"There's nothing I can do. He'll just have to sit and wait it out." By now, I was crying like crazy. I felt like my stomach was going to freeze and just fall out of my body. Carmin came by our table, like she always does, to see how we were doing.

"Hey guys… Is he okay?" she asked. Apparently, she could see me dying.

"Yeah, I'm… fine, just…" Danica shoved a bread roll in my mouth and finished my sentence for me.

"Mmmm… Delicious. Yeah, see he loves the bread here. He was chugging milk, and he's trying to keep it down. Don't worry, he'll keep it down alright. Right?" Dan, Dan, Dan. always looking out for me. We all knew that if she had not stepped in, I would be saying a lot of things. I was busy clutching my stomach and trying to keep myself from screaming my head off. All I could do in response was smile, with the bread still in my mouth, and nod.

"Okay, just make sure he doesn't stain the seats. It'll be my fault if it happens," Carmin said.

"Yeah… We got it, he won't throw up. He has guts of steel!" Dan said as Carmin walked away. "Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"And do what? No," I said. I was not about to go in the bathroom and make noises.

"Give it about a few more minutes and it'll go away. There will be some side effects, though," Calvin helpfully said.

"Side effects? Like what?" Gavin asked. I almost forgot he was there.

"Nothing Rion can't handle."

"Remind me again what's happening. I have absolutely no problem dying without a reason," I sarcasmed Calvin.

"I'm transferring the gift to you. It was either give you the pain, or Danica. I figured, being the hero you are, that you'd want to take the pain for your girlfriend."

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Danica defended herself well. And all the time.

"Sure. Let's go with that. Why not?" Calvin retorted.

"Why does it hurt so much? Why? I don't mind taking the pain, but why?" I managed to groan.

"The gift is hidden in the elements. The elements are bonding with your genes. So that when you and Dan… one day have kids, you'll be able to pass them on," he explained. Dan and I turned red, although it was more noticeable on her face, since I was probably already flushed from the pain inside.

"It'll be like that for a while. It's like having surgery. You have to take it easy. Nothing too serious," Calvin said, "No heavy impact, no tiring activities, nothing too intense."

"But I have football as my sport. What am I supposed to do at school? And for how long?" I asked. I was starting to feel my stomach warm up.

"I'll write you a doctor's note. You can spend football watching Danica swim all period. Don't protest, I'll take care of everything. The gods will write you a doctor's note for… something realistic." Fake a doctor's note? Well, nothing bad will happen anyway.

"Okay. Is it okay if I go? I want to sleep. Really bad," I asked. I lay down a twenty to pay for what we ate. No one protested this time. I got up and took a last sip of my drink.

"Yeah, go ahead. The pearls will remain in your stomach. It won't bother anything, but just so you know, it's staying there. And uh, don't eat any vegetables. Or fruits. No plants either. Just for tonight," Calvin said.

"Not like I would without this pearl."

"Good night guys. I should go too," Dan said.

"Good night," The remaining freshmen said.

I walked to my car, still clutching my guts like they could fall out at any minute.

"I'm coming with you," Dan said. She was holding her school backpack

"Okay. Why do you have your backpack?" I asked.

"I don't really know. Something told me to bring it along with some extra clothes and girl stuff," she said.

"Umm. Okay. I'm gonna need you with me anyway," I said before entering the car. She followed and buckled her seatbelt.

"You always need me," she said. I took a minute to pull myself together before driving.

"I need you right now to keep me awake and focused on the road. You feel too special sometimes. Tone it down," I mimicked her.

"Yeah sure. We can go straight to your house. I'll be hanging out for a while anyway. And you need home a-s-a-p," she said. I liked how she always thought ahead. And how she always put others first.

"Okay boss. How long will you be hanging out?"

"I don't know. Long enough to be sure you'll be okay solo."

"I can always go solo. What are you talking about?" I teased.

"Well in that case, you can drop me off at home and I can block you out. See how that works for you," she made a good comeback.

"I was just kidding, why do you have to be so mean?" I mimicked again. I laughed at how irritated she was getting. She could never be truly mad at me for more than two days.

"Because I learned from you, O Rion the Great One."

"You learned well, little Raxi," I used her nickname I used to call her when we first met. She hated when I called her Raxi.

"I'm going to call you Blue every time you say Raxi, Blue," oh I hate that. Apparently, she also found an irritating nickname for me.

"Okay then. That's done. I think Gavin really does like Ieo. Don't you think?"

"Of course he does! His eyes turn and stay pink whenever she's around. You can always see how he tries to change his eyes, or cover it up. I don't get why he doesn't just admit it to her. Or at least to us," she argued.

"Gavenus Hiliston is extremely egotistic. He worries about what he is to other people. Have you noticed how self-conscious he is? Or how defensive he is? He cares a lot about his social rank, his appearance, and his meaning to others, since there aren't very many others who he means something to. He kept to himself a lot," I said.

"Oh, okay. I get it."

"There's something I want to tell you, but please don't take it the wrong way and believe everything I'm about to tell you," I said. What was I saying? Why was I saying this? Dang it, Veritas was with me.

"Okay? Go ahead," Dan said, unaware of the god of truth with us.

"When I met you, I was supposed to protect you. Only protect you. I'm your guard," I said. She didn't say anything at first.

"What? You're my guard? What's that supposed to mean?" I could sense tears welling up in her eyes. She most likely wouldn't let them fall. She was always good at holding back tears. Veritas was still there.

"I was supposed to only look after you. That's all I was ever supposed to be."

"So we became friends because you had a duty to fulfill. Okay. Cool. Awesome, my best friend is actually only my friend because of his job. Okay." Her lip trembled, but she still kept her tears at bay. Her voice cracked while she was talking. It was cute, but sad at the same time.

"No! It's not like that. Well, that's what it was at first, but then I actually got to know you and then… I fell for you. I wasn't supposed to love you. But hey, stuff happens," I tried keeping my attitude jaunty, but I think it was obvious that Dan could see right through me.

"It's okay. Stop acting. I have to say, the act was flawless until now. Thanks for telling me the truth though, you know how I like people like that." Her glow dimmed. Veritas finally left so I was able to clear things up.

"Thank the gods she left. Okay, everything I confessed to you was 100% true. Veritas, God of Truth, was with us, so I was being completely honest. Please believe me," I said. My stomach started to ache. Or was that my heart? I couldn't tell, they were pretty much in the same region of my body, up in my head.

"I know. Veritas made me truthful too. I would've been all like 'but the love part was real, right?' and 'but you actually love me right?'. Instead of what I said. I'm sure you figured that out. I think you know me well enough to know that I would've played along," she confessed. Whew, I thought I was about to lose my angel.

"Hey, umm. My head is spinning. I can still drive safely, but I need you to keep my awake," I said. I leaned my head against the headrest and put both hands on the steering wheel.

"Okay, umm. What do you want me to do?" she asked. Really? Out of all the annoying things she'd done before, she asks me this question.

"Oh. Umm. I don't know, pinch me, scream you head off, call me Blue, kiss me , sing, freak out, I don't know! Just keep me awake! Please, for your safety," I pleaded. Things were more shaky than a Boggle game. She panicked and started singing.

-But if you close your eyes…

She was singing Pompeii by Bastille. Her voice was amazing. Like the call of the wild and song of a mockingjay. I joined in on some parts, but I was a terrible singer and I ruined her performance. I could tell she liked when I sang with her.

-Oh where do we begin. The ruble or our sins?

-Oh where do we begin. Eh eh-oh eh-oh. Eh eh-oh eh-oh…

We kept singing as my head continuously turned.

-But if you close your eyes. Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all

- Eh eh-oh eh-oh. Eh eh-oh eh-oh. Eh eh-oh eh-oh. Eh eh-oh eh-oh…

When we finished the song, we were at my house. My head was spinning like I just rode a rollercoaster with nothing but loops. I got out of the car slowly, with a feeling like I was going to throw up. I unlocked the door and immediately ran for the kitchen sink. I tried wrenching, but nothing happened. There was no throw up. I was at the sink trying for a good ten minutes. Dan locked my Kia and somehow managed to make me some food in ten minutes. When I pulled it together, I sat down and stared at the plate in front of me.

"Wow. Real food. Real food that was made from scratch with real ingredients. How did you cook so fast Dan?" she was sitting across from me drinking some orange juice. I started eating furiously.

"That's what happens when you cook food on the high setting, Rion. What do you mean by real food that was made from scratch with real ingredients? Don't your parents cook food for you? And it's just an egg and bacon," she humbly said.

"It's simple, but it's good. They never cook. Trust me, my parents are not cooks. They could burn water ." Dan almost choked on that last part. She took my jacket off for me and threw it on the couch, like what I would've done. She knew me too well.

"Thanks. This is the kind of food I want to wake up to everyday. Not all this processed 'food' I have to eat every day." I put air quotes around 'food'. I cleaned my plate in minutes.

"Hungry much?" she laughed.

"When I marry, I'm going to make sure she can cook like you. And sing like you. And make me feel better like you. And…" I stopped myself, swallowing the last of the food and scrubbing the plate. She was still in her chair, just staring at me with no clear expression. "Well, mind as well marry you then, right?" I laughed over my shoulder in her direction. She didn't react. I finished the dishes and the pan she cooked in and wiped my hands on the kitchen washcloth hanging on the oven's handle. I sat back in my chair.

"It's getting late. I'll just go upstairs and clean up. Then I can drop you off," I said. I left the room and ran up the stairs. I took another cold shower and changed my clothes, putting the dirty ones in my hamper. I was about to march downstairs when my head suddenly felt like I'd just been hit with a metal bat. I sat on the bed, holding my head and not being able to hold in yells. I heard rushed footsteps on the stairs and passed out.

When I woke up in the morning, Dan was sleeping on my swivel chair next to my bed. Shoot, I forgot to drop her off last night! And what time was it? I was gonna be late for school! Why was my hair and pillow wet? And the sheets…

"Shoot, Dan wake up!. It's 8 am and we're going to be late for school! I'm sorry I didn't drop you off last night, I don't know what happened. I mean, I was fine, then I had this sharp pain in my head and I-" she shut me up with a finger against my lips. "Dan, it's already 8 am and-"

"And it's Saturday. I'm going back to sleep."

"It's what? Urgh. Good night then."

"Yeah, whatever."

I fell back on my bed and buried myself in the sheets. Danica. She was in the chair again, balled up like a cat. I carried her onto my bed where she'd be more comfortable. She didn't wake up. She was still in her outfit from last night. A plain, black long-sleeved shirt under a grey sweater that used to be mine. It was a size too big for her, and a size too small for me.

She asked for it after she noticed it getting small on me. I gave it to her for her tenth birthday, a week after her grandma died. She was really sad and she was pushing everyone away. She hated all her presents because they were all happy-colored and mostly clothes. She stopped at the second gift and never got to open the present from me until a few days later. She thanked me for it because she said I was the only one who understood.

Her hair was tangled, and the very little make up on her face was smeared. Even wearing that and looking like this, she was still beautiful . I felt happy inside, and wasn't sleepy anymore. I left her on my bed, snuggled up in the sheets, and closed the door to let her sleep the rest of Saturday away. I could sleep in my parents' room if I had to.

I went downstairs and remembered that I've been hungry since midnight. If Danica could cook, then there's no reason I couldn't. I decided to try it, since my parent would never let me near a stove, and that's the whole point in having fun without them.

I took out the pan from last night and turned on the stove. I think I can make breakfast without any instructions. I was always told that cooking made you experiment with your creativity. I set it between high and medium. I put some oil in the pan ad after a few minutes, I cracked an egg. I was amazed at how the clear egg whites became an opaque white. I always liked the yolk cooked through, so I flipped the egg, just barely before it browned. I like it that way. I took out a plate and flipped the finished egg onto it. I made three more perfect eggs and ten slices of bacon.

By the time I finished the last slice of bacon, jumped when I saw Danica watching me. She managed to fix herself a little. Her hair was a lot less tangled and more tamed. Her make-up was washed off, and she was sitting in the chair closest to the stove. She was leaning on her arm with her chin in her palm. She was smiling that perfect smile that lit up the whole room. Or maybe it was the sun rising. The sun didn't rise at eight thirty in the morning.

"Morning. Hungry?" I asked her. I set the plate with all the food in front of her and she immediately started eating and examining the food. I brought the rest of the orange juice and two glasses. I ate whatever she left, which is more than she made me last night.

"Oh yeah. I'm sorry I didn't drop you off last night. I was fine and then, I felt like someone hit me in the head with a baseball bat. I mean, my head was fine, but my brain was telling me that something hit me. I felt a sharp pain on the left side of my brain and then I heard you rushing up the stairs and I blacked out." She was staring again. "You're staring Dan, it's scaring me. I like the attention, but I'm not sure I like why."

"Calvin came over last night to check on you like an hour after you blacked out. I was about to call him too. I tried everything to wake you up. I shook you, slapped you, poured cold water on you, and even screamed my head off in your ears. You didn't wake up. Cal said that it was normal. It should be over is like a week or so," she explained why my hair was damp this earlier.

"Oh. Okay. Did Cal sleep over too? And you still haven't told me why you're staring," I said. I drained my glass of orange juice and waited for her to answer.

"Cal left after he checked on you and told me to just wait you out until you woke up, so that's what I did. Don't worry, I slept in your chair, not your bed or your parents' bed," she laughed.

"Still haven't told me why you're staring. I'm not that good looking," I said. Her brown eyes were ordinary, but they matched her well.

"Suuuuuure you're not," she held my chin and shook my head slowly a few times. "Like you even have a problem with that. Why do you look exactly like Cal and Gav? You three literally are almost the same person. You guys just have slight differences in the height, weight, and hair colors. Besides that, you are pretty much the same," she said. I wondered if that was really why she was staring.

"Physically. We're pretty much the same physically. We have completely different mind sets." I was washing all the dishes. I was used to it anyway.

"Let me help you," she came over and tried to grab the plate from my hand. I used my body to block her.

"No, you sit down. You shouldn't even be up so early in the morning. I'm sure you waited until dawn for me to wake up before you fell asleep. You should still be sleeping."

"Okay, Dad," she sat down and I bet she was staring again.

"Have you ever heard of Mantechor?" I asked.

"Is that a place? No."

"Zeus had a child with a woman on Mantechor, a planet that's only a star away. Zeus loved her dearly, but he never said it. The woman knew him as a human, and she never heard him say that he loved her, but she still got pregnant with his son. Even if he never said it, she loved him too much to leave him. He was going to, but he didn't know that she had already left him to go to a sorcerer. She hated one-sided love and cursed him. Their child would have the traits of the ugliest person alive and she was too disgusted by what she thought it would look like, she didn't want the child to come out of her womb. At that time, it was ugly. The traits she thought were ugly were actually the breakthrough in human beauty. They spread greatly throughout Greece, and Rome and that area. But it spread mostly in the Olympian world. So, you'll see a lot of guys have my face and my built. The original child was born in our generation, actually," I explained.

"So you're a copy of about a million other Olympians. Cool," she said.

"Nope, correction, I'm not a copy. I'm the original. You see, the woman on Mantechor was mortal. She was actually the ancestor of my mom, so… I think you can figure it out from there." She had an expression on her face that said 'Whaa?'

"You are not the son of Zeus. Right?" she barely believed me.

"I am. I lied when I said I was a mutation. I mean, it's very unlikely that you just make immortality with stuff from your house."

"Anymore lies I should know about? You're beginning to lose my trust, Rion. Tell me the truth. From the very beginning." She was serious and I could hear her heart beat intensify and quicken, like she was worried or scared.

"I was supposed to be just your guard. Obviously, that's not all that happened. When You and I-" I started.

"How sure are you that it's obvious?" she eyed me dangerously.

"Well, besides the fact that we have both admitted to each other that we like each other, there's no real reason," I said.

"Okay, yeah. That's true. How are you sure that I was telling the truth?"

"Tsk. I was dying, you wouldn't lie to me if I were dying. And you got mad at me because I thought you were lying. I think that's enough to give me reason to be sure that you love me," I could tell she was trying to find truth in my eyes.

"Okay. Keep talking." She was acting weird.

"So I was born to my mom and dad, but my mom actually wasn't able to create her own child, so the sorcerer found it as a perfect opportunity to have me born. When you and I became friends, I didn't really want to get attached to you because I thought that you were just going to eventually die like the other humans. That's why I was mean to you in your first year at Zantaro. Your angelic charm made you irresistible, so I became your best friend. Everything else is true. Everything I've said, thought, and done has been true. Everything. You know for fact that I can't keep anything from you." Her expression was still cold and hard.

"Then how have you kept the truth about your real parents from me for so long?"

"I just found out. So I'm still innocent." I held up my hand as if I were swearing in court.

"Okay, I guess you are," her expression softened to the face and smile I'm used to seeing on her face. She was just testing me. "You want to help me cook? I'm making lunch now, so we don't have to later."

"Sure, just teach me how to not hurt myself," we laughed. I was still unexperienced in the cooking field.

For the rest of the day, we were cooking beef stew, and lots of it. She said that if my parents were going to be out for a week, she mind as well make my food for the other six days. At three, Phil called and Dan had to go take care of some stuff, but she didn't tell him that she slept the night at my place and was still here.

"Well, I have to go run a few errands. I'll be back as soon as I'm done." She was walking out the door and I was leaning on the doorway.

"You want me to drive you?" I asked. I always asked.

"I live a couple blocks away and you're still not okay. I'd rather walk that crash a car that was going to drive less than a mile. I'm fine with walking." She had her backpack slung over her shoulder by one strap.

"Are you sure? I don't feel too comfortable with you walking home alone." She laughed again. "Here… at least take this with you. I'll feel better knowing you can call," I handed her my phone. She pocketed it in her safest pocket. Her left boot. I just noticed that she was wearing her "sleep shoes", as she called it.

"Okay. Bye. See you later," with that she walked away.

Chapter 23: He'll Be Fine… I Think {Calvin}

When Rionica left, the evening was more peaceful. Ieo and Gavin weren't as hostile as Rionica.

"Well, we should get going. I don't want to be ripped to shreds by Hermes- uh~I mean or by one if the gods because Digna was brought home a minute late," I looked at Digna. She nodded and agreed.

"Yeah, we're tired from the whole day. A lot has happened in twenty four hours, "she laughed nervously. I left a twenty for me and Digna because I did eat like a hippo. I'm sure I ate at least three whole trays of food. Not to mention dessert.

"Oh no. It's okay. I got it. You two are our guests, right?" Ieo said, sliding the over the table back to me. I slid it back.

"Oh no, I ate at least five trays of food. Not to mention what Digna ate, and both of our desserts. Take it." She didn't protest further.

I exited the food heaven to my car. The grey BMW i8 glistened in the dim light of the street lamp.

"Nice car. The i8?" Digna asked.

"Yep. Brand-new. Like it?" I already knew the answer.

"Tsk. No," she mocked. She got in the front seat after admiring the vertical opening and closing of the butterfly doors. It made me smile. I climbed in the driver's seat and inserted the electric key into the ignition. I started driving on the route toward Digna's house, like the GPS on my dashboard said.

"I think it's cool how we get to drive in our freshman year. It's only in Ohio," I started the conversation.

"Yeah, it is. I don't want to have to wait until my junior or even my senior year to drive. It'd be hard to get around. Thanks for the ride, anyway. You insisted, even though I could drive myself," she joked. "I'm kidding, loosen up."

"I could drop you off right here if you want to. I don't have to drive you, you know," I laughed. She punched my arm playfully, harder than most people do.

"I'm sorry, would you like 'Hermes – uh~ I mean one of the gods' to rip you to shreds? Because if you do, then I'm perfectly fine with walking home after watching you die. Do you want that?" she asked.

"Honestly, I don't mind being ripped to shreds. I'll just heal and live on anyway. Remember, immortal?" I teased. I could tell she didn't like having people talk back to her, but I was going to be an exception. I liked how she could make comebacks with hidden insults in them. it took an expert to find them. "The real question is, are you really going to just do nothing and watch me get hurt? Or is Hermes' princess more than just a destructive angel? Hmm? Does my angel have real feelings?" I could feel her cheeks reddening. She hesitated to talk.

"Shut up," was the only thing she could manage to say. "Remind me again why you decided that Rion was worthy of his gift? Didn't you say that he was mean and unreasonable?" I took a deep breath.

"He deserves it. He was so in love with Danica and he wanted to protect her as best he could. He liked her so much, he forgot to know the facts before acting. Blind in rage, he came at me without thinking about what else the burn marks would've been. If it were me in his position, I probably would've done the same thing. I probably would've been blind too and instantly jump to conclusions. Hey, people do stupid things when they're in love."

"Oh okay. So heroes now aren't just nice and gentle. They can be like the enemy, in a way. So why are you here on earth again? Shouldn't you be doing something up in Olympus that's really important?" she asked. The GPS spoke a few directions.

"My parents. They're too much right now. I think I'll stay here for a while."

"Oh, family problems. I hate them. I should have an Oscar for the trouble in my family."

"You did get a gift. That's the real reason why I'm-" I started to mutter to myself. I didn't finish because Digna apparently noticed me talking to myself.

"Sorry, I can't hear you. What was that? I didn't hear much of it except 'you did' and 'that's why I'm…' Where you going to finish that?" she looked at me hopefully. It's amazing how every expression she pulls her face into always has a specific sentence to it. This one said 'was I going to part of that thought?'. I was in trouble.

"I said that you're right. You should have an award, Miss Lentosa," I mocked. I wondered if she heard anything else from my mutterings.

"Don't lie to me, Ronin. I know a good lie when I hear one. I don't care how good you are at lying, because I will always be able to see through it. Your acting skills are never better than mine; mine are flawless. You can try a-ny trick on me, but I will see through it. After all, who is better at lying than the daughter of Hermes? And, are you sure Rion's going to be okay? I know I'm not supposed tube worrying about him, but the best friend bond is still kinda attached. I'm working on cutting it." she bragged. Let me just test that out. Man, girls never stop talking.

"He'll be fine. He is Rion the Mutation, after all. Are you sure about your acting skills, princess?" I teased, "let's test that."

"Hit me with your best shot, Ronin."

"Okay, I'll put on two acts and you have to tell me which one is real and which one is not. Okay… This isn't really my car. It's my dad's. I asked him to let me use it for tonight. Because I had to drop off this girl I was trying to impress," I acted. My acting was perfect, how dare she call my skills inferior?

"K. Next," she said, not showing any real emotion besides pride clearly written on her face. It was always there.

"I'm not really a mutation. I'm the son of Hades and Core, or Persephone. I lied to the others, but I wanted at least one trustworthy person to know," I said. Which would she pick to be true?

"Nice. You're pretty good. They're both false. The car would have the scent of artificial air fresheners with an undertone of some food aromas if it were a grown man's car. And I don't see a pretty girl. The second act isn't even accurate information. Everyone knows Persephone would never have a child with Hades," she laughed.

"Okay. No pretty girl, huh? Well you obviously haven't looked in the mirror. Now you do it. I want to test out my skills too," I wanted to see her acting.

"I was abandoned by my mom when I was born. She became… never mind," she started tearing up and her voice was cracking. Man, she was good. "All I wanted was a happy family. But hey, life's unfair."

"True. Keep going," I said. Her cries sounded and looked real. She wiped away a few tears to make it more realistic.

"I've always lived life sad, pained, and constantly fighting. I don't have many friends, as you know, but I'm beginning to realize that I don't need friends. All I need is to accept what I am. I'm the disgraced daughter of Hermes, the reason for infinite deaths, the source of indescribable destruction, and no benefit to the living." Lies.

"We're almost there. Less than a mile," I said, analyzing every word she said to look for any slip-ups.

"And which one is true, and which one is real?"

"Obviously, the first one is true and the second one is fake. But, you do have amazing talent. If I didn't know for fact, who your mom really was, then I would never have guessed the right and wrong ones. Now, last time. First one: I'm actually Rion and Gavin's brother. Have you noticed how we all look pretty much the same? Except the hair color and some slight differences."

"And next," she said expectantly. She was examining her nails while listening.

"I love you," I said with no sign of horseplay or joking.

"What?" her pride disappeared from her face. Her gaze moved from her fake blue nails to me face. We arrived at her house at that same moment. A yelling came from the house, so loud it passed through the bulletproof glass of my car.

"DIGNA LENTON! GET IN THE HOUSE NOW!" I assumed it was her mother by the shrillness of the female voice.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow?" I asked Digna. She said nothing but stare blankly and exit the car, entering her house. The door slammed and the windows shook. I drove home that night wondering about what Digna thought about what I said. "I love you." Ha. An idiot's words. Wait, then I must be the idiot ?

Sunday, the most stressful day of the week. I know it's a weekend, but it's right before you go back to school. You have to think about homework that you were supposed to do "over the weekend". I wasn't going to do my homework anyway. I never did any homework, unless Zeus said to. I always got A's because of my tests, so I didn't need to do homework. I wonder what Digna thought about what I said the night before. I wasn't going to call to find out. She'd come to me when she was ready.

I decided to go check on Rion. I didn't bother calling, since it risked him running to the phone and hurting himself. I followed the directions my GPS gave. I knew the address was right when I saw his green Kia Soul in the driveway. I parked at the curb a little off to the side and locked my precious car on the way out. I knocked on the door to hear two people laughing. The laughing was interrupted my knocking. The door soon opened.

"Hey," I said. It was Danica. She composed herself from her and Rion's laughter.

"Yeah. What's up, come in." She opened the door wider to let me in. She closed it after.

"Hay Cal," Rion said. I was about to sit on the couch next to him. I stopped just before I touched the couch. I stood straight up and glared at him.

"Don't call me Cal. I hate it. Calvin is what you call me. You too Danica." I finally sat on the couch.

"Okay, then, Calvin. Anyways, why have you intruded in my wonderful day?"

"I came to check on you. And here's your doctor's note." I handed it to him. The paper came from the gods and was, oddly, not special in any way. No aura, sweet smell, or impending doom spelled out.

"So how are you feeling? The burning and freezing shouldn't be happening anymore. The random unconsciousness is also part of it. You should have passed out randomly twice now, am I right?" I asked.

"Yep. You're turning into Gavin; always right and everything. Try to avoid that. Trust me, you don't want to be like him. When I pass out, what's actually happening?" he asked. I wasn't surprised.

"The elements are attacking your brain in different attack combinations so they make you immune to a number of attacks, spells, and such. It simulates the sensations of actually being attacked, but you only feel it when your body can't take it. It only happens every now and then when you can't take the combo. When you can't, the elements bond more strongly with that part of your brain to try and make you as strong as possible. That's how great your gift is." Danica was sitting in his lap now. Ich. She had brought over three glasses of iced coffee.

"So Danica. Why are you here so early on a Sunday morning? It's only six thirty. What brings you to the Bleudoux residence?" Rion shot her a look, but she didn't bother to look at him. I could tell her heart rate increased nervously. It probably didn't help that they were both on their pj's still.

"I stayed the night. I didn't want to leave Rion alone in his condition." She reddened and Rion tried covering it up.

"Didn't your dad look for you last night?" I asked. I wondered what happened. I could tell Rion was getting uncomfortable. I was secretly smirking on the inside. I covered it up pretty well on the outside.

"No, he's out of town."

"So are my parents but we didn't do anything bad. She stayed a pretty good distance from me. Much to my disappointment," he mumbled the last sentence. I laughed at how sweet "friends" they were.

"Uh huh. What did you guys do last night?" the two, who were drinking the coffee, half choked and half coughed at my remark, causing them to nearly spill their drinks. I laughed at them madly.

"Cal!" Dan hissed. I immediately stopped laughing and stared her down. She finished nervously, "-tus! I mean, -vin!"

"Much better. I was just kidding. I'm sure Rion let you sleep in his bed and he probably either passed out in the kitchen, or slept in his parents' room," I said, calming down from my laughing.

"Yeah. Like I would ever sleep in the same bed with this-monster," Rion dramatically said, referring clearly to Danica. I tried terribly to suppress my giggling into my coffee while drinking. I had to peak over the rim of the cup to see Danica's reaction.

"Okay. Like I wanted to sleep in your smelly sheets anyway. Just a heads up, I locked your parents' bedroom door and I hid the key somewhere you'll never suspect. And you don't want to sleep with this monster, right? There's nowhere else to sleep but the floor." She smiled in triumph and sipped her coffee proudly. I liked people like her . Defensive and always prepared.

"Ouch, moron," I said. I could tell Rion was trying to shake it off, but the steam coming from his ears said differently.

"You know what's worse than this monster?" Rion asked. he was setting up a comeback. He mumbled something rather loudly. It was somewhere along the lines of 'surprisingly', "Spiders. And spiders live everywhere, especially on the floor, so I guess unless you unlock the master's bedroom, you'll have to sleep with me." He had that look of satisfaction on his face. It didn't last long.

"Tsk. You wish. Forget it, I'm not going to get the key. I'd rather sleep with the spiders." This was good.

"*cough**cough* Moted *cough**cough*" I chimed in.

"Well at least two of us are smart."

We talked for about an hour and Dan made us more coffee six times since we were drinking it so much. This has to be the funniest couple I've ever met. They insult each other all the time, but at the same time, they manage to make it evident in the way they tease each other that they're just kidding. They were lucky they could do that. I'd do a lot of things to have a relationship like that. There was a knock on the door and the chime from the doorbell.

"Hey Rion, we were- oh." Ieo started. She trailed off when she realized Danica opened the door, not Rion, and I was sitting on the couch.

"Hey Rion, we- hey…" Gavin finally caught up after locking and parking his red Mustang.

"Sup?"I called from the couch and waved.

"Hey." Gieovin walked into the house. They plastered themselves on the couch perpendicular to the one I was sitting on. The two couches connected at a right angle.

"How are you feeling?" Gavin asked Rion.

"With all the attention I'm being given over this tiny pearl thingy, I feel like you guys think I'm weak," Rion said with too much attitude. Danica blinked several times in shock. She'd just brought over more coffee and filled up the cups.

"The pearl is still bonding with his cells. He'll black out every now and then, but Dan knows what to do when he does . Ahem. The elements are attacking him mentally with different combos of different variations. It's giving him something like immunity to some attacks, spells, and stuff like that. However, when he's not physically rouge, he's mentally rouge. It'll be like he's on his period," I laughed into my drink. Rion shot me a look and instantly reddened. It was anger in a very dangerous form.

"I'm gonna go to the garage. I'm locking to door so if you need me… you have other company," Rion said, looking around the room and waving his hand in the air in dismissal.. Man, he was really taking this seriously.

"Don't forget I have the key and I can always pick the lock." Danica jingled a ring of keys at Rion, who acted like he didn't notice it and locked himself in his garage.

"Okay then. So, what brings you guys this early to the Bleudoux house?" Ieo asked. Danica instantly blushed and I answered.

"Danica was here before I came at six thirty. I was just checking on Rion and explaining the answer to his questions. I have no idea what really brought Dan to the house so early. I think she told me a fake story," I said with a smile.

"It was a true story, Cal," we all looked at her, "-vin. Why does that always break the good mood?"

"No one calls him Cal. Ever. He hates it. It's like Rion calling you Raxi, and you calling him Blue. And then there's the exception," Gavin said. Exception?

"Digna. Digna's the only one who can call him Cal without him staring her down. Ain't that right, Calvin?" Without knowing it, I nodded. It took a few minutes of trying to figure out why everyone else was laughing to realize what I did.

"I mean no. She doesn't have permission to call me Cal. Only my girlfriend can call me Cal, in which case I don't have one," I pointed out.

"That just strengthens the reason Digna can call you Cal," Dan said. No, that just… dang it. Well, not really, because I'm not sure if Digna likes me back. But she never said or hinted anything suggesting that she didn't. I had some hope.

After another hour of talking, I almost run out of things to talk about. I remember that I didn't eat breakfast and it was only a couple more hours before lunchtime.

"Is anybody else hungry? I skipped breakfast," I said.

"Actually, now that I think of it, I am hungry. I guess I forgot to eat too," Ieo said. Gavin and Danica nodded then Dan went into the kitchen and inspected the fridge. It was filled with ingredients for every recipe on the planet! The refrigerator held more that it looked like from the outside. At least three times as much.

"There's beef stew if you guys want to stick around for lunch. Or I can cook something else," Danica called, halfway in the fridge.

"Stew for lunch? No thanks. And I didn't know you cooked," Ieo said.

"I've been able too since I discovered the gas range. So what do you guys want to eat? Since I'm already cooking food for myself and there are no adults here, I mind as well use the stove, right?"

"Just make something edible. I can eat just about anything," Gavin said leaning on Ieo.

"Okay, I'll just make whatever then. And then, there's meat for me. I can barely eat anything besides meat. Vegetables don't go well with my stomach acids," she said, taking out half of the fridge's contents and placing them on the counter.

I just realized how amazing and gigantic Rion's kitchen was. It was a white themed kitchen and it was amazing. The counters were smooth and shiny obsidian. The white plastic cabinets and drawers seemed like they were purposefully angled to bounce off rays of light that made the kitchen glow in the early afternoon light. It perfectly accented the bright and spacious residence, for then matter.

"Really? You're a carnivore?" I asked, "I've never heard of anyone who wasn't an omnivore or herbivore."

"Yep, meat is my main diet. The only other things I can eat are junk foods and some fruits. Potatoes are the only vegetables I can eat. And they're technically not even vegetables," she explained while, quickly, but cleanly, peeling some potatoes, rinsing, then setting them in a bowl of salt water. She started boiling a pot of water.

"Weird. I can't stand vegetables either. I love fruits though. Apples, peaches, mangos, plums, strawberries, kiwi, cherries, lemons, oranges, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, redberries, greenberries, pinkberries…" I ended up laughing with Ieo and Gavin.

"Got quite a Dr. Seuss grocery listyou got there, Calvin," Ieo said. My phone started ringing. "Rion Bleudoux" flashed across my phone's screen. I put him on speakerphone.

"Find any spiders down there?" I joked.

"No, but Danica needs to open the door I'm about to run out if oxygen down here. I'm not fricking kidding. I locked myself down here and I just now realized it. Danica doesn't have the key because this doorknob has no key. Tell her to get me out. Please," he said.

"You were on speakerphone buddy. Dan disappeared to your rescue at your mention of her name," Gavin said.

"She worries for you too much. She left the stove unattended. Yell at her for that, for me please. Oh wait, that's right, you can't," I laughed.

"Ha ha Calvin. But I really need to get out of the garage for real," urgency was evident in his tone of voice.

"She's already picked the lock, Rion. You were too busy suffocating you forgot to listen for that. Bye," Ieo said. He hung up and a few moments later, he emerged from one of the many white doors on his house, covered in sweat with his towel around his neck.

"And why are you covered in sweat?" I asked. He wasn't supposed to do anything physical.

"I need a new punching bag. And new gloves," he said, tossing the beaten pair of faded red boxing gloves in my lap before going into the kitchen and sticking his head in the freezer's cold air. His shoulders relaxed as the freezer worked harder to maintain its cold temperature.

"Hold still there's a spider on your back," Danica said, adding pasta to the boiling pot of water. Rion instantly jumped up at the thought of a spider anywhere near him. He hit the back of his head in the shelf holding the trays of ice. He received a good amount of laughing from the three of us on the couch and a personal avalanche.

"Urgh. I hate you guys. Watcha making?" he smiled over Dan's shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist. Ew. She was cutting up the rest of the ingredients.

"Food. Our friends don't want stew for lunch. Could you strain the pasta and run cold water over it?"

Being the "gentleman" that he was, he did so, unable to resist his girlfriend. When was he going to make it official? It's not like there's any chance of rejection. She immediately put a skillet on the stove where the pot used to be, with the fire still burning. She threw in a bunch of ingredients and stirred them together, slowly adding various liquids. One time, she added red wine or something and it flamed. We all were on the edge of our seats watching her cook. When she was done, she immediately tossed it in with the pasta and served it on a big platter.

"What is it?" I asked, sitting down at the dinner table.

"Seafood pasta. I'm making steak, want some Calvin? It's for special diets only, Rion," she said. He grunted, but he still enjoyed eating the pasta.

"How do you like your steak?" she asked me.

"Medium rare," I replied. I watched the three finish the pasta as I held in the urge to throw up. How could they stand to eat the vegetables?

"Here you go," she plopped a plate with the best smelling, juiciest, most perfectly cooked steak in my entire life. It even sparkled as the steam escaped from the sides. How come I couldn't make a steak like that?

"You made this?" I asked in disbelief, skeptically cutting into the two inches of meat heaven.

"Duh, the steak didn't just cook itself." As soon as the steak entered my mouth, I knew it was perfectly seasoned and marvelously cooked. I was going to marry the girl who could cook like this. No, what was I thinking? She obviously likes Rion. I wonder if Digna can cook… Just kidding! Just kidding.

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing! How did you learn to cook like this?" I asked. I was now stuffing my face with the steak. She placed a plate of mashed potatoes in front of menthe mashed potatoes had a bluish, purplish, reddish sauce drizzled on top of it. I stopped chewing and looked at her questioningly.

"It's just mashed potatoes. With a berry sauce on top. It's what I always pair with steaks like this. It's good, I promise. Try it." She showed me it wasn't harmful or poisoned by taking some of the fluffy stuff and plopping it onto her plate. She cut a piece of her steak and scooped up some mashed potatoes with it. She ate it and gave me a thumbs up. Well, if she can eat it, then I guess I can. Besides, she was a master chef.

I cut another piece of my steak and used the serving spoon to put some mashed potatoes on my plate. I followed her, the way she ate the potatoes with the steak, and I mentally moaned in contentment. That was the most amazing thing I've ever eaten. After the first bite, I was chopping hastily at the steak and piling on the mashed potatoes with the "magic sauce", as I now called it, and I was vigorously stuffing my face. When I was finished, Dan had made us smoothies to wash down the incredible foods, that was better than ambrosia , she had made.

"That. Was. Amazing," I sighed after a few minutes. My smoothie was a blueberry color, like Danica's. Everyone else's was either green, or orange.

"And what other piece of heaven is this?" Rion asked, inspecting his green drink.

"And this?" Ieo and I accidentally said together.

"It's a smoothie, stupids," she said in a mock voice. "Just kidding, the orange ones are carrot , peach, squash, and orange. The green one is an athlete's drink." She directed her attention to Rion.

"Nice to be recognized," Rion sarcastically mumbled in response, sniffing the drink and looking at it disgustingly.

"Nice, what's in his? And ours?" I joined in, jerking my head towards Rion.

"Rion's is the opposite of ours. His is pure vegetables. Disgusting." She grimaced, mocking Rion, "Ours is pure fruit. Blueberries, all berries, peaches, apples, and oranges. It's blended smoothly so it won't get stuck in the straw. Or the esophagus." We all laughed at her last statement.

We all downed the smoothies together, almost racing to see who would finish first. Rion won, as he didn't want to prolong the vegetable taste in his mouth more than he had to. He hated vegetables as much as Danica did, but his stomach didn't react to it like hers did.

"I love food. Anyone else?" I asked. All hands went up in the air and then back down to clutch laughing stomach.

"I'm so full, I think I'm gonna be fat," Rion said, slouching in his chair to enhance the obvious.

"Tell that to your punching bag and gloves," Gavin said. They were completely destroyed. The stuffing was coming out of the gloves and the red leather was faded terribly. I've heard people say that he was so muscular, only Zeus was more toned than him. I have to say though, he was in pretty good shape. He wasn't like one of those body builders with the veins popping out and always looked strained. I think I remember hearing something about him being a model or something.

"You're the most desirable man in Olympus. Besides the gods of course. You're like the solo one direction up there," I said. I was always getting info from everywhere. I heard about everything before anyone else did, so my news was always fresh.

"Seriously?" he asked, shocked. She jumped up in his chair.

"Yeah. You are the original."

"Yeah. That's true. I mean, who can possibly stand to hate me?" Danica pointed to herself and we laughed.

"Guys, I'm sorry for walking out. I feel so bipolar with this pearl thingy. I was supposed to be the host, but instead Dan was. Sorry," Rion said as he wrung his hands.

"It's okay. We all know you're on your period," Ieo said.

"Hey, it's natural. It'll only last for a month," I said to comfort him.

"Okay. Thanks. You know, I still don't fully understand why you still gave me the gift." I forgot I didn't tell him yet.

"You would've thought that I decided to not give you the gift because you were so hostile to me. But having the job I have, I can't base my decisions on my feelings. You were hostile because you were being protective. You were being over protective because you didn't want Danica hurt. You didn't want her hurt because you love her. True heroes are about good decisions, selflessness, love, trust, and bravery. You have all those qualities, so I gave it to you."

"Okay. I'm gonna go sleep, I think I feel like blacking out again, "he didn't wait for anyone to say anything and marched up the stairs.

"So, what are you guys going to do for the rest of the day?" Dan asked.

"I'm gonna go to the mall with Ieo. Reluctantly," Gavin said.

"You know, I didn't force you to go with me. It was your choice," Ieo defended herself. Why were all the girls so defensive? Doesn't matter, I liked it.

"And you Calvin?" Danica's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I'm gonna visit Digna. She has something to tell me. I asked her a question she didn't get to answer last night. Her mom interrupted us and made her leave without answering my question," I partially lied. I wasn't sure if Digna wanted to talk to me.

"Oh, okay then. Since you guys have plans and it's already halfway through the day, I think you guys should look at actually getting your plans done. You guys can just leave the dishes soaked in the sink and I'll wash them. I have to go check on Mr. Gifted," she said.

"Okay. Bye, see you later," Ieo called to the Danica running up the stairs.

"Let me get this straight. Gavin chose to go shopping with you?" I asked. I wasn't used to guys volunteering to go shopping with a girl. Last time I did, I was stuck at the mall for six hours. And we only went to two stores, and walked out with one bag of items!

"Sure. Something like that. Anyway, we better go if we don't want to be stuck in the flock. It's like the rush hour of the mall," Ieo put her and Gavin's plates in the sink full of soapy water.

"Okay, bye. Good luck Gav. You'll need it," I snickered.

He sighed, "I know what I got myself into."

Hey I mentally tried to contact Digna.

Hi. I didn't expect her to reply, but she did.

How are you? You okay? I was asking questions like I knew her too well. I left my dishes in the sink and locked the door on my way out the house. Gavin and Ieo already left.

Yeah I'm fine. Hey, umm, my parents are out. Want to come over? I think we some things to talk about. she asked hopefully.

Yeah, definitely. I'll be there in a couple minutes.

Okay. I'll wait.

I drove on the quickest route to her house at at least sixty miles per hour. I had a million thoughts on what was going to happen when I reached her house. Would she bring up the "I love you" from last night? Would that mess up our friendship? Would that make us more that friends? Maybe she would completely forget about the topic. Maybe she wanted to talk about the other immortals. Maybe I just imagined the kiss…

When I arrived, she was sitting on the hood of her Barracuda, parked in her open garage. She had her phone in hand, but I could tell she was only pretending. It was part of her façade. She looked up from nothing when I pulled into her driveway.

"Hey," she greeted me as I got out of the car and locked it. There was no real emotion in her. It's like she's had no sleep at all, but her appearance was perfectly normal.

"Hi. You said you wanted to talk."

"Yeah. Let's go inside. My parents got an emergency call for work, so they had to leave. They'll be gone for a month." She led us into her house. It was HUGE! It was bigger than Rion's, but it had similar styles. The kitchen was lavender colored and marvelous. It had a bigger fridge and a different counter top, but it was basically identical to Rion's kitchen.

Digna brought over some lemonade and two glasses. We sat on the couch together and it was a few awkward minutes before either one of us started talking. Especially since we were right next to each other.

"So, you said we had some things to talk about. I wasn't sure what you meant," I started talking first.

"Oh, yeah. My parents are out of town and my mom was an… an earful about last night," she giggled. It was so cute. "What are you doing out with a random guy at this time of night?' Ha. Ha. 'What if he brought you to his house instead of home?' She's crazy," Digna mimicked her mom.

"Yeah. She has quite a voice. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I heard her scream through the bulletproof glass in my car. That's saying something," I laughed.

"Oh no. Please, she has the voice of a harpy. It could kill. If your car didn't have bulletproof glass, you would've died right then and there, in your own car."

"Oh please. I live with my dad's in-law. I can take your mom," we burst out laughing and lemonade almost came out of my nose.

"Your dad's in-law, huh? Wait till you meet your OWN!" she added. I had a feeling I already had, since I'd sort of met Mrs. Lenton. NO CALVIN! Stop thinking like that! I was not aware that I had spoken my thoughts!

"What?" Digna looked at me quizzically. She'd heard me. Facepalm.

"Nothing. I said… nothing." She raised an amused eyebrow at me. Now, her face was saying 'That's the best you can do?' or 'Seriously?'

"Oh yeah… umm, about your two acts last night. I figured it out," she said. I almost forgot about it. I blushed. I ran my hand through my hair to distract her from seeing my blush.

"Right. About that-" she stopped me midsentence.

"You don't have to explain." I nodded. I was afraid of what she was about to say. "I just have one question. Was all that true?" I literally froze. I didn't know what to say. Say yes? Say no? Dodge the question? Change the subject? Do nothing? Well, I was already doing nothing.

"Ummm. Do you want me to answer that question?" I asked. What. What? What?! WHAT?! What was I doing? She probably thinks I'm' an idiot.

"Umm… yeah. Yes. Yes I do." She seemed unsure herself. Forget it, I'm saying yes.

"Yes. One was. I have no brothers. That one was false. I have a sister." That's all I said. I drank three more glasses of lemonade before either one of us said anything.

"What do your parents do? Your house is huge. They must make a fortune," I asked lamely. It's not the best line in the world, but I'm trying.

"They own a shoe company. It's a huge company in Europe, but it's not so popular anywhere else. They make designer shoes. I help sometimes. With the designs," I felt her attitude become more irritated when I mentioned her parents. She had some ill will toward them, obviously. "They're already out of the country nine months a year, so this really isn't a big deal. They're always out of the house when they are in the country. Off to business dinners, dinner dates, foody meetings, and stuff like that. They buy me everything I want and give me a huge allowance, but I can live without it. That's pretty much all they give me; material things."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" I started.

"It's okay. I have to go. My maid is already on her way back. She'll tell my mom if she sees you here. She was never really nice to me, so I can't trust that she'll hush up about me seeing you. Especially after my mom last night. Thanks for telling me everything. Bye," she waved her phone with a map and a moving red dot on it. I nodded and headed for the door. What was this going to do to our friendship?

I stopped walking before I crossed the threshold. I was going to look over my shoulder and say bye, but as I did, a figure came right behind me, and then there was pressure on my lips, but only for two seconds. It was quick and I did nothing but stand there. I saw Digna's face as she was pushing me away past the door, leading me to my car. I was still was trying to comprehend what just happened. Was it my imagination? No, because Digna was smiling. I looked back to see if her smile was still on her face, but she shut the door too quickly. I got in my car and I started driving with no destination. As I was driving, I was uncontrollably smiling.

What had just happened? I'm was so happy, but was I happy for the right reasons? What if she did that on accident? No, I was at least a good number of inches taller than her. It would've taken lots of effort to kiss me like that. That means it wasn't an accident. She meant to do it. Does this mean she likes me back? Probably. I went to the grocery store and bought a lot of ingredients. I was so excited and happy, but I wasn't sure why.

Thinking back to the kiss, I realized it was also my first. She stole my first kiss. I always pondered about how I wanted my first kiss to go. It certainly wasn't like that, but then again, it had almost the same effect on me. When we made contact, I felt sparks fly, my heart race, my blood rush, and all the other clichés people say about love. It all happened.

I now felt bad about not doing anything. Just standing there like a statue. I know that I was okay with my first kiss, but what if it was her first too? Was that a disappointment? How would I even know? That was really my only experience. If it wasn't, then what? I began to think all these different thoughts and worst-case scenarios. Then I thought, what does it matter. She knew I wasn't prepared. She knew I didn't see it coming. She knew it was a surprise. She knew I couldn't really do anything. So why was I over thinking?

I was never really one to believe in sayings like that, but believe me, when it happens to you, you open up your horizons to a lot of things.

When I got home, I did what I always did when I was that happy. I baked. I know it sounds stupid, but when you cook anything, you get this feeling of relaxation and happiness. Baking, or cooking, is how I relieved stress, calmed down, and every now and then got creative. All my bright ideas came to me when I was in the kitchen doing something else besides eating.

The rest of the day, I did nothing but bake. I made batches and batches of cookies of every kind I knew how to make, three three-layered, decorated cakes, muffins, bread rolls, loafs, and more. I was freaking happy that day. At about ten at night, I stopped baking because I finished all the ingredients I had bought at the store. I was stained with flour. Head to toe, I was covered in flour. Even though I was wearing an apron, the while tank top I had on underneath had managed to become powdered with flour and maybe some powdered sugar.

"Hey. What are you so happy about, CJ?" an amused voice came from my sister's mouth. She was a lot older than me, but here on earth, she's only a junior in high school. She went to a different school because AA didn't receive her application soon enough and if both of us went to AA, people would try to make me ask her out. We've been through high school enough times to know.

She knew everything about my immortality because she had it too. We weren't exactly related. Long story short, my family took her in when she was abandoned. We became very close and we considered each other brother and sister.

"Oh nothing. It's just been so long since I've baked, so I thought, why not? Right?" I answered over my shoulder. That look on her face reminded me of Digna's. Then again, everything at that time reminded me of Digna. I even frosted the cookies with her initial. It's the same one I drew in my notebook the day I met her. I feel like it was so long ago, but I haven't even been on earth that long.

"Don't lie to me, Caltus. I know you too well. Look me in the eye and tell me it isn't a girl," I faced her and looked into her Archxiton eyes. The patterns flickered and the colors appeared, disappeared, and appeared again as I said, "It's not a girl, Calla." I said it with no emotion, but of course, My sister knows me better than I do.

"So who's this Digna girl? And why haven't you told me about her?" she grabbed a cookie from one of the cooling racks and inspected the design on it.

"How can you always read my mind? I was thinking about pizza that time, too. How do you do it?" She never told me how she could always pry any information out of me. That's the same reason no one ever told me any secrets when I was younger. They knew my sister would find out.

"It's them eyes, Little Jay. It's always been the little eyes. I already told you this. It doesn't matter what you think about, it will always link to the answer I'm looking for," she said. She poured milk into a glass and drank it with the cookie. "You ate pizza at Ohio's Best while you were looking at her and thinking to yourself-" that's all I needed to hear.

"Okay. That's nice," I threw my apron at her face. It caused flour to dust her face like a clown. "You need a little help with your foundation, Calla? I think it's a shade lighter than what you need," I laughed. We always joked like that.

"So does she know?" She took a hard scone from one of the many plates and sank her teeth into it like it was butter without the slightest crunch or crumble.

"I made those rock hard for you on purpose. I still don't get how you can bite anything like it's air. And she knows. She knows very well," I couldn't help but smile. I knew that my smile would tell her what was really going on.

"So what happened? I'm sure you had some brilliant way of getting the message to her, Calculator." Oh I hate that nickname. She sat on the counter, away from the baked goods, and waited for me to tell her the story. I already knew she'd eventually find out, so I spilled it. I told her about how we met, how I met Rion and the others, what happened in my car when her mom yelled at her through my windows, and what happened earlier that day.

"-and that's why I spent the rest of my Sunday baking." That was definitely a mouthful, and Calla knew it. She held out the half-full glass of milk to me, which I took and drained.

"So… you just straight up told her you liked her, and the next day… all this happened. What?" she asked, as she took another scone and bit into it like nothing. Before she took the second bite, she looked into the bitten area of the scone regretfully.

"What happened? Finally broke a tooth?" I joked. She grinned.

"I'll get you another spare set of keys," she laughed as she set the scone in front of me with the bite facing me. In it, there was a small, rectangular, mechanical piece of metal. It was my car key.

I had baked my set of keys into a scone. "Intelligence. You can't get any more intelligent than that," I said to myself. This would make a great show-and-tell specimen. I slipped the partially eaten scone into a plastic Ziploc bag and tossed it in my backpack. I'd show that to some friends the next day.

When Calla came back from her room, she hung the ring of keys on one of the small hooks I screwed into the wall near the door. She resumed her place on the counter as I checked all my cooling food on the racks.

"I can't believe you baked your keys into a scone." She was holding back her laughter quite well.

"Well, they don't call me genius for nothing!" I said.

"Yeah, I think that's exactly what they're doing," she retorted. She always had the best comebacks. That's where I learned.

"Oh, please. You're just jealous they don't call you anything." I snapped.

"That's exactly what's happening Cal. Exactly," I whipped my head from the racks to her. Even my sister couldn't call me Cal. "Whatever Caltus." Well, it was either that or Cal.

"Good enough. What do you want to bring tomorrow? So I can separate the food now. Whatever you don't bring, I'm bringing." I always baked more than we could eat. It was just us two in the house, so whatever we didn't eat went to our friends.

"Oh, thank you so much little Calculator. For baking food for your big sister." She pinched my cheeks, which I was not happy about. "I'm taking the scones, all the cinnamon bread, and the honeybuns. You can bring the rest to your school," she said. I set to work separating the sweets.

"So what did you do all day? Did you go out with your 'best friend'?" I put air quotes around 'best friend'. Calla and this guy, Dey Larx, have been hanging out a lot recently. I never really bothered to ask or talk about him, but I wanted to know if anything was happening.

"He seriously is my best friend. We went to the mall today. He went shopping and I got soooo bored. I've been hanging out with him more because I have this gut feeling that he knows something about immortals. He might even be one. I mean, Dad didn't tell us how many of us there were, so I've been keeping an open mind. I've been dropping a few subtle hints in questions every now and then, but he hasn't given any hints about if he's picked up on them or not, so I'm still working on it."

"By subtle you mean, 'hey, would you be immortal if you got the chance?' or 'hey are you immortal- I mean good at Greek Mythology- I mean… nothing'" I mocked her. The reply I got was a slap on my bare arm.

"At least I'm more subtle than 'I love you'" she said.

"Actually, that was subtle. We were playing a game and it wasn't clear if I was serious or not. So ha," I snapped.

"Okay. Hey, I'm doing laundry. Want me to wash your shirt?" she asked, stuffing one last cookie in her mouth before I put the rest into a large bag.

"Yeah, sure. Less for me to worry about. I'll just go upstairs and get a new one to put on. I'll be back," I said as I jogged up the stairs and into my room. I quickly pulled off my tank top, careful not to let any flour fall off onto my floor. I pulled on a maroon tee and put the ball of cotton and flour into the washing machine, along with Calla's other shirts.

"Go to sleep Calculator. Now," Calla intercepted my path to the kitchen. She had a stern face on. She had her arms out wide, blocking my way to the kitchen. Confusion hit me hard, and I wanted to clear up the situation, but before I could ask any questions, Calla was pushing me up the stairs to my room. I was too flustered to contradict her actions.

"What? Why do I have to sleep now?" I managed to splutter once I was sitting on my bed.

"Dad said to. He said something's about to happen and we have to sleep within the next hour. I know you want to know more, but he wouldn't tell me anything else. He just said to lock, shut, and seal everything there is in the house. I'll take care of the baked stuff because we both know I can move faster than you. I just want you to go to sleep now. Okay?" Calla was definitely not playing. She would never say 'dad' without strong purpose. I could sense the urgency in her voice, so I decided not to push her any further.

"Okay. Just… make sure you get to bed before the hour is up, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you because you secured me first. The cookies all go in a bag, one for every-" she walked out the door without listening.

"I know how to put food away. Just shut your mouth, shut your eyes, and go to sleep!" she shouted. She never shouted at me before. Why did she yell at me now? I didn't stay awake long enough to find out. I did as she said and went to sleep. I had no dreams that night. I didn't wake up until morning.

There was something heavy in the air. Something sinister.

Chapter 24: C. Ronin {Danica}

I know I shouldn't have left Gavin, Ieo, and Calvin like that, but I wanted to check on Rion, just to make sure he was okay. I stood leaning on the railing of the stairs, directly in front of Rion's room. When he emerged from his bedroom an hour after he entered it, I could tell he took a cold shower, because his black hair was wet and his skin wasn't as colored as it usually was.

"You were waiting for me?" he asked. Something was wrong with the way he'd been dressing recently. But he had on his usual white tee, jeans, and in his house he wore black crew-cut socks all the time. What was different? Was his hair dye fading? No, it was a slick, pitch black like always. Was it his paleness? No, I was used to it. What could possibly be different? "Again, you're staring. Is there something you're looking for?" I just realized I was staring.

"There's something different in your wardrobe. Something's wrong, different, or missing, but I can't pinpoint what it is," I said. "Maybe it's because you're not wearing your red Nikes."

"Oh. It's my sunglasses," he said. He ran his hand through his damp hair. I loved it when he did that. "I forgot where I lost them a few days ago, so I haven't been wearing any."

"Oh. That's what's missing. Sorry, I'm just so used to your iconic Oakleys," I joked. "They all left already. They had plans that they wouldn't have accomplished if they stayed any longer," I said as I sauntered down the stairs. I planted myself in the corner of the couch. I searched through my backpack for a few DVDs. Rion followed down the stairs and jumped on the couch, snooping around in my backpack.

"Ooh, movies. Which one are we watching today?" he asked. I held up a good number of DVDs.

"All of them, but which one do you want to watch first?" I asked. We had nothing else to do, and it was Sunday, so I planned to watch all the movies.

"Oh, let's watch Frozen first. It's supposed to be really good. Everyone keeps singing the tracks and I'm just here like 'shut up. Please shut up. SHUT UP. SHUT UP!' But I still think we should watch it." He opened the case and loaded the disc in the player. All the DVDs were Blu-ray so Rion used a different player than we usually watched movies with.

"You know I hate everything mainstream. I don't want to, but I'll watch it anyway," I said. He ran up to his room and brought a familiar pillow back just in time to see the very beginning. He threw the pillow at my face and laughed, only to receive an 'I don't like you right now' expression on my face.

"What? It's your favorite pillow, remember? You 'lost' it. So I 'found' it for you. You should be thankful," he acted. He was always dramatic and irritating, but you could always clearly tell if he was being serious or just kidding.

"Oh. I forgot about Teddy. Where in the world did you possibly find him?" I used sarcasm. I hugged the soft pillow tight. I used to always sleep with it. When I slept over at Rion's house I always brought it and ended up oversleeping every time I had Teddy with me. Rion eventually got irritated because the time that we could've used to hang out together was replaced by hours of unneeded sleep with Teddy. He was basically jealous of a pillow.

"I found it lost in the woods, wandering about. It was tired and worn. It was looking for you," he teased, "Now shut up and let's watch the movie." He moved closer to me in hopes of ending up with me sleeping on his shoulder. He was very sadly mistaken.

I moved away slightly, because I didn't want be too far away from him, and said, "Nope. I'm going to be hugging Teddy because there's so much lost time. We need to bond again." He frowned in defeat. "What? It's your fault you took him away from me in the first place, so suffer the consequences," I reasoned.

"But- but… you'd rather hug a pillow than hug me?" he pouted.

"No, but sometimes your muscles are too hard. Teddy is always soft." I hugged the pillow for emphasis. I tried to win the argument while making Rion feel good about himself.

"Okay, that works for me. But I'll end up getting sleepy during the movies, so," he put his head in my lap and watched the movie. I didn't complain any further because I was comfortable enough and there was no point.

Frozen was actually a short movie. I didn't expect it to escalate so quickly. More happened in the first ten minutes of a children's movie than ever happened in all my life! After Frozen, we watched the Resident Evil series, R.I.P.D., Daybreakers, Ironman 2, The Man of Steel, The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug, The Amazing Spiderman, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We finished all the movies before midnight.

Despite the argument we had at the beginning of Frozen, I still ended up sleeping in his arms. Teddy ended up lost again in the middle of Daybreakers when I went to go to the bathroom. We eventually just decided to sleep on the couch because we were so tired and too lazy to walk up the stairs. Only good dreams came that night. Most of them consisted of scenes from Resident Evil and R.I.P.D.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt sick, tired, and I didn't feel well. I lifted my head up from Rion's chest, slowly so I wouldn't wake him up. I felt dizzy the moment I got on my two feet. Something wasn't right. I covered Rion with a blanket that was neatly folded next to him. A low and deep rumbling noise barely escaped from somewhere deep in his chest.

I spotted a butterfly land on the top of the kitchen sink's water faucet. It was a monarch when it's wings were closed, and it was pitch black when they were open. There was no butterfly that looked like that. It's wings started to slowly crumble suddenly, like paper that was burning. It flaked gradually and the butterfly was soon gone. No ashes or remains of the delicate creature was left. There was definitely something dark and foreboding happening. This was not good.

The clock read 7 am, half an hour after I saw the butterfly. I didn't remember seeing that clock there when I woke up. Oh well. I was dressed and ready for school. I exited the bathroom and went downstairs. Rion was gone, probably also getting ready for school too. I made breakfast while I heard his shower running. The house was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. I knew that Rion's neighborhood was quiet, but something was different. It was way quieter that morning. Something was definitely at work here.

I finished up the four eggs and six sausages and presented them on a plate. I didn't feel like eating. My head was still spinning and I felt like the air around me was thinning. Breathing was difficult.

I went to the sink and filled up a glass of water. As I drank, I heard Rion come down the stairs. Suddenly, there was an odd taste in my mouth. Blood? The water tasted like blood. Blood?! I almost dropped the glass in shock, but I had good control.

"Morning. I would say 'Good morning' if it weren't a lie," Rion sluggishly ate the breakfast I cooked.

"I don't feel good. Do you?" I asked. I tried eating ice while Rion ate breakfast. It's been my wake-up food since I was born, but it wasn't working. He was forcing the food in his mouth. He was trying hard to keep his head from just plummeting into the food.

"No. I feel like dying. It's something in the air. Can you feel it?" he asked. It was in the air. Something was heavily surrounding us. Maybe it's just in this house. Maybe the others don't feel like this.

Morning. I'd call it good if it was. came a voice in my head. Is it the same thing there? It was Gavin.

It's the same. Do you know what it is? We feel like dying up in here. I replied back.

"Gavin's got it too," I told Rion. He was sleep fighting. It was hilarious and cute. He almost face planted into his bacon. I laughed at him.

"Cool. Do you want to go to school? I can call in for the both of us. I'm great at impressions," he bragged. He tried doing that face he pulled when he was trying to be cute. It became a fail.

"I have to. They call your house whenever you're absent, and Dad put a passcode on the phone log, so I can't delete the message, even when he's gone. And I guess you have to come to school now if I'm going. Am I right?" I said. It was a four digit passcode, but I still couldn't figure it out. I felt sudden defeat to a four-number code

"Yep. You drive though. I can't," he went to get his backpack and walked into a pillar way far from the couch where his backpack was. I laughed to myself.

"Yeah, I'm definitely driving. The Soul? Or which car?" I asked. He had at least a dozen cars to choose from. They were from his 'parents'. They were rich. They could afford to use Benjamin as tissue paper. I still wonder why he dresses the way he does if he's that rich. And why I'm his best friend if he could be hanging out with whoever he wants. And why he… what am I thinking?

"You can drive the…actually, you can choose. This is the only time you'll be able to choose. So choose wisely," he collected himself from the pillar and walked to the garage where I followed, backpack in hand.

When he turned the lights on, it was like hitting me with a building made of solid gold. He had a warehouse in his house! There had to be at least thirty cars, all parked side by side, facing the garage exits. They each had their own garage door and parking space. The whole rainbow was there. Red, green, blue, and black. The room was as big as a football field. On the far side of the room, there was half a wall separating more of the expensive cars, like Porches, Pontiacs, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis. Those belonged to Rion's parents.

"Which one do you want to drive?" he asked, holding his head in his hands.

"Good question. Where are the keys?" he had a special place where he hung all the keys. The garages were also numbered so they remembered which key went to which car. They had so many, this was a good idea. We unlocked a metal box by the door. It had rows and rows of car keys just patiently waiting to be chosen. I picked a random key numbered 25. I unlocked the car and the car that responded to the key was a deep blue Hyundai Coupe.

"I guess we're driving the Coupe," I said. I made my way to the driver's seat as Rion crashed into cars #1 through #24 as he lamely followed and took shotgun.

"Wow, you're in perfect shape," I said as I opened the garage door of the Hyundai and drove out of the warehouse. Rion comfortably slept through the drive to school. When we got to the parking lot, I parked the car next to Gavin's, Calvin's and Digna's car. There, in the far corner of the school parking lot, were four stylish cars. A red Mustang, a black Cadillac, a blue Hyundai, and a silver Beamer i8 with its owners getting out of them.

"Hey," Digna said. Everyone looked tired and groggy. They were all ready to pass out or something. I don't blame them, it's the stuff in the air.

"Hay is for horses," Rion spat. He sat on the hood of his car and curled up into a ball with his backpack to sleep. I don't understand why he didn't just stay in the car and sleep there.

"Shut up Rion," Calvin's voice boomed. His voice sounded especially deeper and louder.

"Save it Blondie. Today is not the day," Rion retorted.

"I don't know what's wrong with today. Do you guys know?" I asked, trying to break the tension. They all half shook their heads. I told them how I saw the butterfly burn up with no fire. And how it crumbled with no remains.

"Well that brightens up our day," Rion said. I thought he was sleeping.

"Do you guys want to just skip school and go do some research?" Gavin asked.

"I can't. My dad put a four-digit passcode on the phone's call log, so I can't delete the message if the school calls about my absence," I said. I felt like buzzkill. Everyone else seemed to have no problem with it, since all our parents were out of town.

"If I take care of it, will you come with us?" Gavin asked.

"Sure. How are you going to erase the message if you don't know the passcode. And if you guess it wrong, it sends the message to my dad's cell." He thought for a few moments while the rest of us formed a small circle.

"Come with me, but be quiet." He walked toward the back of AA. The bell for first period rang and it made me feel guilty to not be in class. I always had anxiety towards talking to teachers. I never knew if it was because I was in trouble or not. Also, if I said one wrong thing, it would change their while perspective of me.

As usual, the back door was unlocked and wide open. I will never get why they don't lock this door. We went in and the halls were deserted. All the teachers were teaching, students 'learning', and the higher staff in their cubicles, oblivious of us 'little rebels'.

Gavin unzipped his backpack and produced something that looked like a pistol .

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! What is that?! What are you going to do with that?!" Rion hissed. Gavin crouched down because we were in front of a long window. The main office. The blinds were drawn, but we all crouched down anyways. He popped out the magazine and checked to make sure it was loaded. Being right behind him and I saw that the bullets weren't normal bullets. They were glass bullets.

"Glass bullets," I whispered, "They can shoot anything you want." I have no idea how I knew this. It might've been in a book or maybe one of the immortals were talking about it.

"How did you know that? I just finished inventing them, and I've never told anyone about them," Gavin asked. I could tell that, even behind his shades, his eyes held wonder.

"I have no idea. It just came to me," I guessed. He corked the gun and whispered something into the muzzle, like he was trying to talk to the barrel. We heard footsteps coming from one of the hallways. The hall way we were in was shaped like a T. Mrs. Vera was coming from the left side of the top of the T. The footsteps had the distinct click clack of Mrs. Vera's heels. Gavin aimed for where she would emerge from.

"What the heck are you gonna do to Mrs. Vera?! Shoot her?!"Ieo hissed. He pulled the trigger when he saw the first sign of her. She fell to the floor immediately. We all jumped up and rushed to her. The glass bullet was nowhere. In its place was a tranquilizer dart . The glass bullet turned into a freaking tranquilizer dart! I pulled it out of her side. She remained unconscious

"What? WHAT?! I swear, those were bullets!" Rion whisper-yelled. He took the gun from Gavin and opened up the magazine. He checked the bullets, and they were still made of glass.

" What is this sorcery?" Ieo dramatized . We laughed at her remark. Although it was hard, we kept jaunty moods.

"So uh, how long will she be out?" Digna asked. We all forgot she was with us, since she was towards the back of the group with Calvin. Gavin spoke into the barrel again and shot something into somewhere in the main office through a cracked door. He immediately shut the door and held the doorknob closed. Some people tried to open the door when I heard a few high-pitched beeps come from the office, followed by light screams, then silence in the whole school. Everything from the office and hallways, to the discussions in all the little classrooms were hushed. Gas bomb I thought.

"You freaking gassed the whole school?!" Calvin yelled. You could still hear his voice echo through the empty hallways.

"That wasn't supposed to happen! I was only supposed to gas the high staff and disable the cameras. I'm going to go check out what happened inside. Maybe I hit someone… or something," he said as he stood up and opened the door. He left it open for a few minutes before walking in, probably to vent out any gas remaining. We all entered the room and found all the staff sleeping in their cubicles. We all explored the room, as none of us have ever been in here.

After a good sweep of the place, Gavin called us over to a large metal box with a few thick pipes running in and out of it. There was a grill on it, like a vent. Like a vent…

"This is where I messed up. This sucks in the air that's in the office and brings it to an advanced air cleaning machine, which AA has because it's a... fortunate school. It's like a ventilation system. Every room has one. I messed up because I didn't know that at the side of the box," he turned the box, "is where the air comes in. The gas wasn't filtered out of the air, so it was cycled through again, which means more people breathed it in. The thing is, this particular system is connected to every other vent in the whole school. So the gas was released to the whole school. It won't hurt them, though. The gas just knocks them unconscious for a while. When they wake up, it's like it never happened they just had a regular day at work or school."

"What do we do now?" Rion asked.

"Good question… do research on whatever is in the air. I feel it trying to suffocate me. I saw black fog this morning when I woke up. I was shocked, of course, so I jumped up out of bed and accidentally passed the small cloud that was hanging above my face. I don't think it'll affect me too much," Calvin said.

"Sometimes, we think the wrong things. Here drink this." Gavin fished out a small, glass vial from his backpack. It looked like a miniature test tube with a cork stopper. Inside, was a small dose of a yellow liquid. Calvin only pocketed the vial.

"Sometimes, we're right. I'll save it for later, if I actually need it," Calvin bluntly said. Why was there heavy tension between everybody? Did something happen? Maybe it was just whatever was in the air. Then again, maybe not.

"Up to you. I'm not sure if it'll help much later on. But, I did provide you the resources, in case anyone here tries to pin your death on me," Gavin smiled mockingly then wiped it off his face. Gavin logged on to one of the higher-functioning computers and hacked into the school's system. How? I don't know. His fingers flew over the keys on the keyboard too fast for me to track the movements. "Well, all the cameras are down and none of them caught a glimpse of either us, or the white smoke that shut them down. We'll be safe," he reassured.

"What about the master camera?" Digna inquired. Master Camera?

"What master camera? Doesn't matter, if one camera goes out, all of them go out," Gavin replied. I could tell he wasn't too sure of himself. Digna rolled her eyes. She approached the computer.

"So stubborn. You, men, with your egos. How do you know for sure that the master cam is attached to the rest of the security system? Stand up." Gavin said nothing at this and stood up. Digna took his place and entered several multi-digit codes into various places when the computer gave several instructions. Gavin stared intensely in disbelief. He watched Digna's every move and monitored her keystrokes.

After a few minutes of serious typing, four camera views popped up in a new window. There were four cameras, the view of each one in its own square. They were all next to each other in a 2x2 fashion. The cameras were above us, like somewhere in space. Digna zoomed in so we could see that they were thermal cameras. The unmoving bodies in the classrooms were red, orange and yellow, clearly separated from the greens, blues, and other colors. Digna roomed in and locked the lower right-hand camera's view on the room we were in. she roomed in even more so we could see that there were the usual bodies of the staff in their cubicles, and six gold figures. Six… Us! I saw that the rest of the immortals figured that out too.

"Why are we gold. Are we coldblooded or something?" Ieo asked.

"We're the only people who are immortal." Digna said. She zoomed out so that same camera could see the whole school. Besides us, there was another gold figure across school. There was another immortal. I pointed it out to the others.

"There's another immortal. And they're moving! Gavin, does the gas work on immortals too?" I asked.

"It should. That means that god just walked in AA, or was in the hallways when I shot the gas. The hallways don't have the air conditioning system. The figure's near the main entrance, across school, so they probably just walked in," Gavin started logging off the computer, erasing the history, and removing the entered passwords.

"If we have to band together, I'm going to go meet this god. Anyone else?" I asked. I exited the room and headed for the cafeteria. It wasn't far from the main entrance and the immortal was probably still moving farther away from the main entrance, so I wouldn't find them there.

When we reached the cafeteria, I silently pushed through the double doors and closed them gently. I estimated that the person would walk by in front of the small window of the cafeteria doors in a few moments.

"I have an idea." Gavin took out a camcorder from his backpack and turned it on. We crouched behind the double doors, out of view from the small window above. He handed it to me after alternating a few settings. It now was a thermal camera. I raised the camera just enough to see through the window. I adjusted the moving screen so we could all see.

"Rion, Gavin, and Ieo have to hide in that classroom. The rest of us will stay here. When the immortal passes by, you'll come out of the room and block the hallway. If this god turns around to escape, we will come out of the cafeteria and block the other way. Then we'll have them cornered with no escape. Not even the exit-through-the-vent-above-you trick will work. There's no vent. Even if they did, they'd gas themselves," Calvin said. I was surprised at how quickly he though ahead and planned everything.

"Okay. Sounds good," Rion said. He went out through the side door and hid inside the class room Calvin pointed out. Gavin left his backpack of wonders in the cafeteria near me. They entered the classroom that was right next to the one across from the cafeteria. I saw Rion in the small window of the classroom, waiting like me, Digna, and Calvin.

I watched the screen of the intently. When I heard footsteps, I stood up on my feet, but I still bent down low enough to hide. When gold flashed across my screen, I watched Rion's group come out of the classroom and confront the god…dess. It was a goddess. A girl, probably one or two years older than us. Well, probably much older if she was a goddess. Her persona was older by a couple years. She had Calvin's blonde hair and she was about Rion's height with Digna's built and dimensions, but with something exotic in that mix. I couldn't see her face, as she was facing away from me.

"Huh? What's she doing here?" Calvin asked. He knew her? Why didn't he tell us he knew one more immortal? And how did he know her?

Rion was talking to her quite calmly, even though I couldn't quite hear the words. The conversation heated up pretty quickly. Rion and Gavin began to exchange looks and the girl began to reach for something hidden in the side of her pants waist. I immediately jumped up and exited the cafeteria doors, which brought the girl to fully pullout and cork her pistol and point it at me. Calvin and Digna followed me from the cafeteria. Several more guns corked from Gavin, Ieo, and Rion. Gavin was holding his pistol with glass bullets, Rion was holding a silver revolver, and Ieo had neat black Glock.

I was not fully aware that a gun had materialized from the water that flushed me. I was holding a handgun, similar to Ieo's, a silver Glock. It fitted perfectly in my hand. It was amazing how the power in the water was enough to put a gun in my hands. Calvin scoffed and walked toward the girl, pushing my Glock away.

"Do you guys understand who this is?" he asked, laughing like we were bluffing.

"You know her?" Rion asked, somewhere between disgusted and amazed. Calvin just laughed.

"This, my good friends," he took the pistol from the girl's hands, "is my sister." The girl's fierce expression softened. She took back the gun and hid it in her boot this time.

"Oh. So these are your friends." She took a step towards me and looked into my eyes. The Archxiton irises toggled their patterns. She did this to every single one of us. None of us either moved, or said anything. When she was done, she simply said, "Okay."

Digna, being our version of Johanna from the Hunger Games, scoffed and booted her gun as well. The girl turned around and faced Digna the moment she heard the scoff. I imagined how difficult her expression was. Digna had her face carved in a what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it face. She showed no sign of weakness. Calvin's sister towered over her. A few stale moments of silence and the goddess relaxed.

"Digania Lentosa daughter of Hermes. The child of mischief and inevitable destruction. Pleased to meet the cause of the Great Annihilation. Fire specialty, I'm guessing. Calla Mantius Greye Ronin, at your service," she said. She held out her hand but Digna didn't take it. She took a step to her right and held her hand out to Ieo.

"Iedoun Del Valle… you don't know your origins, do you?" she asked. Ieo just stared blankly and said "I do."

"Anyways, you're the ice princess. In case you didn't know . That's why your eyes are Archxiton." She moved on to Rion and the minute she laid eyes on his irises, she backed away.

"No way! Rion Larx Bleudoux, son of Zeus?!" she exclaimed. Rion nodded like he was embarrassed. "You created the foundation of human beauty. Thanks to you, my brother is less ugly. Still, ugly, but less ugly." She smiled at Calvin growing red in, either anger, or embarrassment.

She looked to me. "Ah. The famous Danica Raxitian. You don't know your origins, either, do you? It's not my place to say. But you're a gem, you. Of water origins. Very difficult people. Don't try to team them up with ice," She stepped away from me and centered herself within us.

"Well, I'm Calla Ronin. The second C. Ronin. I doubt my brother has talked about me. It's okay, I don't talk about him to my friends either. So… are we good, or is there still who-does-she-think-she-is tension here?" I snapped out of my daze. How did she know all that from just looking at us?

"We're cool. We're- we're good," I stuttered, "Not much use for introductions now, right?" The rest of them came back to their senses.

"So what are you doing here? And why did you only show up now?" Rion asked, he relaxed.

"I came by because school was cancelled. Some air conditioning failure, so it's hotter than Death Valley up there. It was too hot for instruction. They released us early so I thought I'd stop by and see what AA was like, but I didn't see much. Is the usual schedule for the classes to sleep through the whole period?"

"Nah. We gassed the whole school on accident," Gavin said, wavering between serious and sarcastic. Calla only laughed and looked at Gavin, like she was expecting some more explanation or a non-sarcastic one.

"Oh, you're serious. So, how did you do it? And why?" we started walking out AA toward the parking lot, as Gavin explained the glass bullets and ominous air. I learned that the gas messes with the technology's circuits and stuff, so it would disable the device.

"Oh, you guys got the heavy-evil-in-the-air thing too? I thought it was just me and Calculator." We all burst out in laughing fits at Calculator. That was way better than Cal.

"Calculator?" Digna managed to ask between her laughs. We got into our cars and rolled down every window.

"Yeah. It's that or Cal," Calla explained, not laughing as hard as we were.

"That's enough embarrassment for one morning. Having you as a sister is more than enough to break me," Calvin said, leading her almost forcefully into shotgun of his car. He shut the door and sighed in relief.

"So… Calculator, huh?" Digna kidded. Calvin just shook his head and got into the driver's seat. "So where we headed to?"

"My house. I've got a huge library of books that might help us find the answer to our moodiness," Rion said. Every window rolled back up and Rion led the cars to his house.

"How do you afford a huge house like this?" Calla admired the giant house. That was my exact reaction the first time I saw his house.

"Just happens," Rion said as he unlocked the front door and entered his humble abode. The five followed as Rion unlocked another door that lead to the gigantic library. This was the first time I've ever been in his library. I didn't even know he had one.

The curtains were closed, but I made sure they got open. The room was pitch black and I had no patience to find the light switch. When the curtains were drawn, the whole room lit up. It looked exactly like the library from Beauty and the Beast. I mean, purely identical. Everything from the shelves and shelves of books, to the furniture, to the designs on the floor. It was so accurate, it was scary.

"Disney much?" I said. I got some laughs from the teens.

"Your library is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. How did you get all these books? Some of them are not even in English," Ieo said.

"Digna's been in here once." He left us in the library to go to the kitchen.

"That was a long time ago." Digna's mood became easily irritated and annoyed. She walked away and started choosing books off the shelf and setting them on a table nearby. We just watched her slam books furiously. When she sat down and started to read one of them, she looked up at us and we immediately diverted our attention away nervously, scratching our heads nervously, in a buzz of "Oh look, I found… a book," and "Oh, cool a… window," and other idiotic excuses like that. We knew better than to comfort and coo at her.

I grabbed a few books off the numerous shelves. I took the ones that stood out to me. Things with words like "dark", "mist" and "smoky" jumped out at me, so when I collected enough books, I set them on an empty table and started looking through them. I started with the ones that were in English, then in my second language, Tagalog, the Philipino language.

I had a tall stack of books to look through, but thank god they had table of contents. Most of the books I was looking at had leather covers, hand-bound to papyrus or high-quality parchment. The paper looked, felt, and smelled ancient. Even though the leather was drying up and slowly crumbling and the pages were getting old, the books still held perfect ink writing. Legible and a written in deep black ink. I started going through a book that was titled Vivlío katáres. I knew this meant "Book of Curses". In it, I found a page titled "Jala's Last Stand". It perfectly described our situation.

Jala's Last Stand

The spell occurs sometime after the death of Jala. This day has been predicted as {I̱ archí̱ tou télous}. {I̱ archí̱ tou télous} is similar to the end of the world. Gladly, this day has been predicted to be somewhere in just a little more than 73 millennia. Long time from now, if you're reading this, you have nothing to worry about. You'll be dead before that time comes.

{I̱ archí̱ tou télous} is the beginning of the end. Following this day is a series of treacherous, deadly, and dreadful disasters. Many believers think that they have had visions of a set of eight that are supposedly to be the only "cure" to this smoky plague.

You know Jala's Last Stand is taking place if, one, Jala has finally been slayed. Two, if you wake up with a groggy, unsettling, and moody feeling that you share with a significant number of others, then it is possible that Jala's Last Stand is happening. If you see dark smoke in random places, then it is probably happening.

Jala's last stand is like a set command or ticking time bomb. There is a certain amount of time after Jala's death in which her last stand occurs. This time has not been recorded because Jala has not been successfully slayed. The information on the time will be vital information to the foreseen eight saviors. It is unknown how the numbers will be used. If this information is in the knowledge of the eight, then the world will be saved. If it falls to the hands of the enemy, goodbye. I̱ archí̱ tou télous marks the day of the start of total destruction. There is no estimate for how long life will survive after this day.

Jala is a mere taste of the oncoming destruction. Every event following will contribute to total annihilation, similar to the Great Annihilation of Digania Lentosa, daughter of Hermes and Jala.

The only definite sign that Jala's Last Stand is happening, is if you see a burning, black and monarch butterfly crumble and there are no remains or logical explanation. This represents Jala's life. Beautiful and elusive in the beginning {monarch pattern}, then dark and destructive in the end {black pattern}. When it crumbles in flames, it shows how she slowly died in the Iron Prison until someone slayed her and ended her life. There are no remains because when Jala is killed, her spirit joins Hades in the underworld, and her physical form vaporizes.

Take caution with the dark clouds. If you come in contact with one you must treat it with a serum, or suffer greatly. Archxiton is normally a solid that it beneficial in confining thoughts. But when melted, the vapors are deadly. If you income in contact with the vapors of melted Archxiton or breathe these vapors in, they can materialize in your lungs and slowly suffocate and kill you. The clouds are mostly consisted of Archxiton vapors. There is no way to remove the solid Archxiton from the lungs.

I stopped for a second and reread that paragraph, paying special attention to "vapors are deadly", "can slowly suffocate and kill you", and "clouds are mostly made of Archxiton vapors".

"GUYS! Read this page real quick! I found the answer!" I literally yelled at the top of my lungs. I was panicking as the others rushed to the open page and read the five paragraphs. Rion came too. When they finished together, they started gasping and panicking like me. No, they were freaking out. Digna's face fell then she started to freak out and cry. Calvin took a seat and absorbed the information.

"Calvin… no. How is… How can- What is there- Are you going to…" Digna broke the silence. Digna broke down completely. Tears were streaming down her face and she just, for the first time ever, broke down.

"No, no, no. I'll be fine, "Calvin tried to comfort her, he took her in his arms and shushed her to try and calm her down while repeating, "I'll be fine"

"Gavin, what can we do? Can we still help Calvin?!"I asked. he was incredibly calm. He was probably doing the smarter thing, thinking about solutions.

"Calvin, you have to down that vial. I'm not sure if it'll work, but it wouldn't hurt to try," Gavin said. I could've sworn I literally saw a light bulb go in above his head.

"Right." Calvin took out the vial and opened it. There was a satisfying pop when he opened removed the cork. He said, "Well, I'm dying on way or another," and emptied the yellow contents of the vial in his mouth, he swallowed, disgusted.

"Okay. Do you feel anything?" I asked. Digna was looking at him hopefully. I've never seen her so weak before. So sensitive and vulnerable.

"I feel as fine as I'll ever be. Nothing special or different. I'm fine," he said bluntly. He had no tenderness in his voice or any sign of any joy. Anymore.

"Yeah, okay. He's fine," Digna said. She quickly wiped away her tears and stood up to go back to the table she isolated herself at. She said nothing more and continued looking in the books she had. She had no emotion after her tears left her face. Sometimes, I wish I were like that. Strong, weak, then stronger.

Calvin did the same. He pretended like nothing just happened. Like Digna didn't just break down for him at hearing about the smallest possibility that he could die. The lack of remorse was offensive. Now we found the answer. What were we going to do now? I have no idea.

Chapter 25: Lana? {Narrator}

"So… now what?" Danica asked. everyone's attention was focused on Digna and Calvin. Danica's words broke the silence.

"We figure out whatever 'I̱ archí̱ tou télous means'," Rion said. Gavin put back all his books on the shelves where he got them from.

"It means 'the beginning of the end'. It's in Greek," Calvin said.

"How did you know that? Never mind. How do you say it again?" Ieo asked.

"ee~arr-hee too tel-oozh," Gavin pronounced.

"I have a friend that can help us figure out an approximation of what could follow Jala's last stand," Calla said. She was sharing Calvin's stack of books. Most of them in Greek, if not English.

"Who? We should go to them right now. I mean, we already found the answer to most of our questions," Danica said. None of them, except Digna, made notice to the big secret written on that page. It revealed that Digna was the daughter of Jala and Hermes. I'm sure Digna was thinking if any of the others had caught on. Calvin threw her the BMW keys and she caught it without looking.

"We, my new friends, are going to my best friend. I'm sure some of you know him. Just follow the Beamer," she said, smiling. She went to her car while the others put away the books, except the one with the page on Jala's Last Stand. She waited for the rest to catch up and get loaded in their cars before she started an hour drive. Calvin had shotgun and was fiddling with the buttons inside a hidden compartment that a button in the glove compartment revealed. He connected all the cars' Bluetooth to a four-car conversation.

"Hey guys, can you all hear me?" Calla called.

"Yeah. We're good," the other three cars chorused.

"Okay. I know none of you have any idea where we're going. Even Calculator doesn't," Calla said.

"That freaking ónoma," Calvin muttered angrily.

"Stamatí̱ste na paraponiéste, Ypologistí̱s" Digna said. It mean "stop complaining Calculator" in Greek.

"Giatí eísai tóso anastato̱ménos me ména?" Calvin complained. "Why are you so upset at me?" would be the proper translation.

"Me?̱ Anastato̱ménoi se sas ?," came from the black Cadillac. It meant, "Me? Upset at you?"

"We're almost there, just ten more minutes," Calla said. She turned off the mike while she talked to Calvin.

"What the Hades is wrong with you?!" she yelled. It scared him, since she rarely raised her voice.

"What do you mean?" he said plainly, but spooked.

"You and Digna. Why are you so ignorant? Why are you so mad at her? And don't say you're not mad because you were speaking in Greek and you only do that when you're mad." Calla switched lanes and put the set of buttons back to where they came from.

"There is a girl who just broke down completely when she just discovered that there was a small chance of you dying, Caltus. A girl that ruins peoples' social lives to keep hers up, a girl that was banished from her only home, a girl that was crushed when she was too young, a girl with iron walls that confines her to a narrow perspective of a mortal cliché, a girl who puts up with your personality, the girl who stole your first kiss because you were too unsure of yourself, and the girl who loves you, Calvin. What are you doing to her? Your life is better than everybody else's'. The only thing wrong with your life is that you lost your parents. But you're old enough to understand now, that you're life has no other flaws! " She sighed and looked at Calvin.

"I'm sorry I don't understand people," he said. His emotion was unclear.

"Calvin Jay Ronin, I love you to death, and you know that. But you need to stop doing this to her. She turned off her mike, see." Calla pointed to something that proved her right. "All my life, I've put up with you because you're my brother. You see Rion; every girl wants to be with him. You are the exact same person and-"

"Everybody knows that we're different."

"But whatever they know about him, they know about you. And the information is not accurate, but exactly the same. So why are you pushing away the one girl that is reaching out to you? Who truly loves you. The one that can put up with you. When was the last time you went on a date?" she asked.

"Never," he simply answered.

"Then why… so why is… How is it… what are…" she sighed in frustration. "The girl is almost asking you out. What the heck are you doing? Playing hard to get. You're hard to want," she tried bringing humor.

"When you go to a fancy restaurant, the prices are always high, right? What do you think about the food when it all suddenly becomes free? The exact same food, for free," Calvin reasoned.

"Calvin, I- I get suspicious. That's not the point," she said. She knew how stubborn her brother was, but she still didn't understand why Calvin was acting like that.

"Well, that's my point. Remember what happened with Genesey? Just a couple months ago? Well that hurt. And I don't want to feel that way again," he simply put it. He was tearing up behind his Oakleys.

"Well, she made you as strong as Digna," she exited the highway, "Probably stronger, since you literally tore her down. A girl like that doesn't pop up every millennium. She has guys committing suicide for her, and I bet she would do it to herself for you. Calvin, why are you afraid of your feelings? You less than a week ago, you literally just straight up said that you loved her, to her face! Yesterday, she stole your first kiss. Why did you suddenly retreat? You haven't baked like that since you met Genesey." There were a few minutes of silence while Calvin failed to come up with a good comeback. It didn't happen. He turned on the radio to, ironically, Sara Bareilles' "I Choose You"

"Why is there a song to every feeling in the world?" he started silently crying.

" Because some people have been hurt enough times to finally become strong enough and share their feelings with the world and laugh in the faces of those who hurt them . You're feelings are perfectly normal. Just let it take over. You're thinking the worst of your situation. Stop. Just stop over thinking. You'll miss most of the world's gifts when you spend all your time trying to wrap them," she wisely replied.

"Okay. But what if-" he started.

"But what if not?" she said.

"What am I gonna do if-"

"What are you

"And?" she asked. He got confused at this.

"Give her the stuff I baked?" he guessed with a half-hearted smile. Calla looked at him shortly in disappointment.

"No, you're going to apologize to her, hug her, keep apologizing, and run after her if she tries to get away from you. Most not gonna do?"she interrupted him again.

"Fine, I'll apologize."

of all, you're going to love her for the rest of your life." Realization hit him in the head like a baseball bat. I have no idea why that didn't happen sooner.

"Okay."

"That's it? Okay?" she mocked.

"Well, we're already here and don't forget to signal or you'll pass the turn," she forgot where she was driving to and did as Calvin said. She pulled up into an empty driveway. The other cars parked either against the curb, or across the street.

The house wasn't as big as Rion or Digna's, but it was a decent size. From the outside. It was definitely bigger than the average Ohio house, but it wasn't so large it didn't blend in with the other houses of the neighborhood.

"Where are we again?" Gavin asked when they collected into a group.

"This is the lair of my best friend," Calla joked.

"Dey Larx. He was in your swimming class, Danica's swim team," Calvin spoiled. He knew that Calla was planning to surprise them. Calla sighed in frustration.

"Sometimes, I wonder how I survived the past years of my life with you." She didn't bother to knock. She just opened the unlocked door and walked in. She threw her purse on the couch and called out to Dey.

"DEY!" she yelled.

"Mantius, what do you need?!" he yelled back. He was sitting at a desk strewn with computers, wires, and other techy devices. On the computer in front of him, the screen has black and he was typing a bunch of codes

"I need help." She walked over to his computer station and tried to move his attention to her.

"I told you that a long time ago, Manti. But that still doesn't explain why you need me," he laughed.

"I need you to help me. Happy?" she flashed a fake smile.

"Well, if you need me, sweetheart, then okay." He turned his swivel chair to face the gang.

"Is this a vision, or do you have real friends besides me?" he joked.

"You know Calvin's my brother. The others are his friends. I'm sure you felt different this morning," she said, walking and leading the others to a large study room. There were numerous tables scattered around the room.

"Well, hi. I'm Dey Larx. I know a few of you, all the girls, but uh, the guys are either the exact same person and I'm having triple vision, or Zeus please help me." His dark hair mimicked Mathew Koma's but his built was like Rion's. His skin was tan, like a true Greek's. He had sparkling green eyes and he was a little taller Calvin. He resembled Cal Shapiro greatly. He was about Calla's age and he had more knowledge in his mind than Gavin.

"That," Danica threw the open book in front of him and showed him the page.

"Is what's happening right now. Two of the three guys in this very room killed her. I'm not pointing fingers, but it was definitely not my Calculator," Calla finished Danica's sentence for her.

"Yeah, that's incredibly vague, Calla. Thanks," Gavin said.

"You two killed her?!" Digna flared at Rion and Gavin. They both, well, everyone jumped.

"Yeah, and you should be happy we got out of there alive!" Rion flared back at her, yelling. Gavin made his own shield with his element Digna was firing at them with fireballs, tears pouring from her eyes. Rion was tossing the fireballs aside with those of his own while Gavin used his shield. The ricocheted fireballs burned nothing and disappeared upon contact of anything.

"You killed her! You're going to pay!" she yelled. Sent an ongoing stream of fire toward the two boys. Rion could do nothing against that. Gavin enlarged his shield and protected Rion and himself. Danica couldn't just stand there and do nothing. Gavin's shield was melting and he could nothing against it. Digna's rage was about as bad as her ancient mother's. Danica spread a thick wall of clear water between Digna and the boys. Ieo helped and froze it. She led the ice up to Digna too and froze her figure in ice, with the exception of her head

"Why are you so mad? What is Jala to you?" Calla asked.

Digna glared at her and stared at the book. Calla reread the entire page.

"You're her daughter…" She spoke aloud. They all stood down and lowered their ammo. For Gavin, that was his shield and For Rion it was his flames. Danica was somehow holding a water spear and Ieo had an ice sword.

"Yes," Digna said. She put it so simply, it sounded wrong. Suddenly, Digna flared and the ice burst. It didn't melt, it just straight up burst! She freed herself from the ice mold. She walked out of the room, in style. She left a trail of burnt shoeprints on Rion's wooden floors.

"Don't worry about it," Rion said as Danica was about to make her way to Digna. He burned the footprints with his own fire and they somehow disappeared. He followed the scorched wood trail until he reached his doorstep.

He found her sitting on the scorching hot roof of her black Cadillac, just like the old days, looking up to the glaring sun. How she can stand to just sit on a black, metal roof of a car in the bright sun, wearing shorts and not burn herself is beyond me. So she can do that but she can't survive in a huge house with a refrigerator that's always overflowing, a gaming room that's bigger than my house, a maid, all the clothes, shoes, and stuff she could imagine, no siblings, at least two personal cars, a high social rank in school, good grades, and a guy that truly loves her to pieces.

It was still morning, so the sun wasn't as bright as it could've been. Unlike when they were younger, he joined her on the rooftop instead of in the shade. She didn't move or do anything. She just stared at the sun, eyes wide open, and thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Rion asked, trying to look at what she saw in the sun. Without his shades, he could barely see a thing.

"Life. Why my life is as good as a rock. Why I was banished here on earth. Why I can't go home because of a mistake I made. A mistake that I didn't want to happen. A mistake that my nature brought up and now I can't, or ever bring back down. It's a scar, Rion. Mistakes are like scars. You don't want them there because then people judge you when they see it." She glanced at him staring at her. Tears filled her eyes, and she was still smiling sadly.

"Yeah, I agree with you. Mistakes are like scars. But scars only mark a very small part of you. You know how many scars I have. You out of all people should know. People's judgments are like grades. They don't really matter," he said. He made her laugh, which made the tears fall. She wiped them away quickly.

"I still can't blame you for killing my mom. Even if I know I should," she said. And she meant it.

"I… can't pick a side on that. I mean, in there, it was kill or be killed. What would you have done?" he asked. He didn't want to defend himself, because then he'd end up in a big argument with her and that would've just made things worse. If he agreed with her, then he'd be lying to himself.

"Yeah. That's why I can't blame you. I feel so stupid in front of you right now. I've never cried in front of anyone before today," she confessed.

"That's okay. You've always showed the strong side of you. You're like a shotgun.. You make painful attacks. When you cork that gun, you're building up the pressure and when you pull the trigger, you channel all that built up pressure and anger toward your worst enemy. But sometimes, you just gotta reload," he said. He knew he was pushing on the glass curtain, but it wasn't breaking.

"Thanks. I will never do this again, cry in front of someone."

"Didn't I just… never mind. Why?" He was going to ask why she wasn't going to cry anymore, but then he remembered that it would end up in an argument.

"I feel so weak and vulnerable. Like I'm not strong enough to last."

"When you build the tallest building in the world, you feel proud right? But when you develop a taller building and the other buildings start to grow, you have to tear down that building completely before you can build that newer building. Then you do it over and over again." He felt wise. Too wise for his own good, if you ask me.

"But I don't want to break down that many times. Why can't you just keep building the other buildings on top the ones you built before?" she asked. I'm sure she knew what the answer was already, but she needed to keep the conversation going.

"Your final skyscraper would come crashing down at the sight of a slightly taller building. It crashed because it felt threatened. It felt weak, vulnerable and helpless. It didn't stick around long enough to realize that it was just a cheap, thin, piece of painted cardboard."

"Okay. You know, the day we parted ways was one of the worst days in my life. The only on that topped it was the day I was banned from my only home. You were my only friend. My only piece of Olympus." He felt bad now, for leaving her like that.

"You know, I wanted to stay friends. You wanted to separate because you were too embarrassed. I didn't want to make you feel weaker, so I didn't come after you and I respected what you wanted."

"That's how I wanted it to be. Thank you."

"No problem. What do you see when you stare at the sun?" he asked. Neither Digna or Rion had noticed Danica and Calvin watching then from the porch, both leaning on either side or the doorframe. Pain was showing in both their eyes.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Danica whispered to Calvin.

"Whatever it is, it's calming them down. Maybe the past?" he guessed. He was always right with his predictions, but unlike Calla, he had to actually, truly guess out of pure randomness. His intuition was that of Calla's, however.

"How would that past save Rion from Digna's wrath?" Danica asked seriously. She usually had sarcasm hidden in everything she said, but this time, there was none.

"Ask them," Calvin said. The two on top of the car started laughing at something.

"Sometimes, when Rion talks about Digna, I feel like they were meant for each other. Like they'll end up together in the end," Danica said, pained a little.

"I know that Rion loves you. That is what I'm certain of. But just watch out for Digna. She hasn't exactly 'cut the string' she still has. She's still drawn to him. Which I'm sure you feel." His heart felt like a chunk of lead.

"Rion still likes her too. I can feel it. That's why he's been avoiding making us official. I know it. Even though he doesn't say it. I'm his best friend, and I think that's what I'm going to stay. When he says he loves me, I can feel doubt in his words. He doesn't want to admit to it, but I can read him better than he can read himself." Danica laughed away her tears silently. She envied how Digna could keep Rion in a fluid conversation.

"He's figuring himself out. Like Digna is. He'll choose you in the end, I promise. I'll make sure of it," Calvin joked.

"Yeah, because then you would've lost Digna. You don't want that," Danica made both of them laugh.

"But I'm serious. He'll end up loving you still. Digna… well, she has a wide range of options. She can have anyone she wants. She'll find a way," he said. Digna was staring at the sun and Rion was watching her intently. Too much for Danica.

"I wonder about who I am. I really do. You all know why you are who you are, but I don't. All I know is a made up lie."

"Well, life has its own plan. It'll get to you when the time is right. Anyway, I hear you're the best cook in the world. Or so our friends say," Calvin said.

"I'm pretty decent in the kitchen. Why?" Danica raised an amused eyebrow.

"Well, I'm a pretty decent cook too. And taster. The food's not good unless I say it is, and my food is the best in the world," he said, returning the arched eyebrow with a look that was exactly the same as the one Rion and Gavin had posed in Danica's dream the day they told her her story of who she was.

"Is that a challenge, Jay? I'm gonna call you Jay from now on because every time I want to say 'Calvin', my mouth says 'Cal' and it kills the mood, and I don't like killing the mood, so yeah."

"Oh great, a new nickname. If you can take a challenge, then yeah, that's a challenge. I guess I just challenged you to a cook-off," he grinned the same toothy grin Rion melted her with.

"One hour, two dishes for each of six, lunch and dessert. Can you take it?" Danica said. She was looking to beat Calvin.

"Two hours, twenty bucks, and you have yourself a challenge," Calvin said.

"Oh, wager much? Fifty bucks for the majority vote. And you have to use vegetables in both dishes." Danica upped the stakes and held out her hand for a confirmation shake. Calvin considered it carefully.

"Two hours, fifty bucks on the line, two dishes for each of six. You've got yourself a losing challenge, Mr. Raxitian," Calvin shook her hand briskly and the both of them walked into Dey's kitchen and started warming up their pots and pans on the stove and the oven. The glassy surface of the stove range was sleek, dark, and casual. The oven was stainless steel, digital, and in perfect condition. In fact, the entire kitchen was.

Danica ran into the study room and announced that they were going to use most of the fridge's contents and the cookware to Dey. He nodded at her approvingly, not caring about what he was approving. He was too busy explaining something. Danica ran back to Calvin, who was quickly chopping up many ingredients on one side of the long counter. She immediately started preparing her own ingredients, chopping up various ingredients and momentarily tossing them in the sizzling pan.

"I can't believe you started cooking without even asking permission," Danica said, between sautéing.

"Well, you were already going, so I thought, why not get a head start, right?" he joked.

"Yeah yeah. You only started first because you needed it. I, being the better cook, don't need it," Danica kindly taunted.

"Okay." Calvin poured some white wine in a pan he was flipping food in and set it on fire for a few seconds. Danica did nothing lesser than that, but flipped four steaks in our pan at the same time, making them land with a satisfying hiss.

"You don't need to burn your food to make sure it's cooked to 'perfection', you know. Not like you know what perfection is, anyway," Danica laughed with Calvin. After about an hour of using fire and wine in the kitchen, they were certain their judges would become drunk.

"Okay. No more fire, no more alcohol. It's too hot in here. Did I forget to mention that you almost burned my face off? Twice," Calvin said. He took off his sweater and continued working in a white tank that clung close to his skin. What was it with super tight tank tops and the guys?

"Agreed. I need the oven, can you move? Please. My deserts needs to bake for an hour," Danica said. They were working pretty hard and working up a good sweat. Well, at least Calvin was. Danica kept sticking her head in the freezer. Another quick hour passed by and all the dishes were done cooking, the tasty presentations were set on the beautiful table, the oven and stove was cooling after two hours of continuous burning.

"Nice. LUNCH!" Danica screamed. She unzipped her jacket and toolkit off, but kept her long sleeved shirt on. Everyone came in and took their seats. Gavin, with Ieo on his back, Calla, laughing and bickering with Dey, and Rion and Digna walked in with smiles on their faces, but perfectly normal. It took only moments for them to end their conversations and smell the food before them.

"And what kind of heaven have you wasted with my groceries?" Dey smiled.

"It's not a waste just stuff your face with food," Ieo said. She was about to start, but Danica stopped her. Calvin explained why there were four plates, two of each 'course'. They were informed that they would have to choose which dishes were better. They didn't say who cooked what dish, to avoid biases. They would definitely take score.

"Okay, yeah. Sounds good. Now can we please start eating? The food looks good," Dey said. He had never had a meal quite like that one. It had two full courses and two desserts. Everyone except Danica and Calvin ate their delicious meals.

Danica and Calvin silently stepped outside the backyard and strolled through the large flower garden. All the flowers were blooming, even the ones that weren't in season. Magic she thought. Her mind was blocked out most of the time, now, since weird people and odd messages started coming to her mind. At the moment, her mind was open.

Pretty, no? said a deep manly voice in her head.

It's nice, Calvin. Some of them aren't even in season. She replied. She was almost certain it was Calvin, but something suggested it wasn't.

Yes, dear it's nice. Too bad it won't last too long. I'd say it only has about, oh I don't know, maybe until it starts to wilt. Then, it will die for sure. Shame, don't you think? It was followed by a sinister, but aloof laugh.

"Calvin, what are you saying? What do you mean they won't last long?" Danica verbally asked Calvin beside her.

"Huh? I haven't said anything since we finished cooking," he said. The worry on Danica's face painted confusion on Calvin's. He opened his mind so he could hear what Danica was hearing.

If you hadn't invited your boyfriend, here, to our private conversation, I was going to reveal myself to you.

"Boyfriend?" Danica blurted out in shock, and disgust. She wasn't too sure about the disgust part herself…

So at least you knew who and what you were up against, but oh well. I guess you'll just have to be surprised. Goodbye, Lana the voice said.

Lana? Danica thought.

"Lana? Like Lana Del Rey?" Calvin asked, even more confused, looking up from smelling one of the larger hibiscus flowers.

"Lana…" Danica got lost in wonder.

Chapter 26: Up Next {Rion}

"Yeah, they were both really good. Now don't get me wrong, but this is a really hard job. I don't really want to choose… but I think the steak and the ice cream was better," I said. After I said that there was an uproar or reasons being thrown at each other. Danica and Calvin had had a cook off and we got to be the judges.

"Yeah, but the carrot ice cream had a half cooked cookie underneath! How can you do better than that? And the cookie was still warm," Ieo argued.

"You can do better. It's right- well, it was- there," Gavin pointed to the plate where there used to be two medium-sized crepes that held carrot whipped cream and cucumber slices.

"Yeah, that's exactly right. Especially the filet mignon. Mmmm, it was perfectly cooked, all the way through, melt in your mouth, per-fect," Digna said, wiping the corners of her mouth.

"I still don't remember buying six filet mignons. Oh well, I already ate it," Dey said.

"I think I know which cook is better. Should I call them in?" Calla said. We nodded.

When Danica and Calvin walked in from the flower garden, they wore confused and dazed expressions. Something went wrong. Danica shook it off and put back on that perfect smile she always wore. Calvin didn't do much to ease my thoughts.

"So which dessert was better? Hands up for the crepes," Danica said. She had a water pen and a dark colored napkin divided in half by fine line of water. She marked three tally marks on one side. "For the cookie and ice cream?" She noted another three tally marks on the opposite side.

"Why are you writing?" I asked her.

"Calvin here, thinks he's a better cook than I am," she replied, "So which was better, the steak or the mignon?"

"Steak," four of us chorused. Digna and Dey didn't say steak.

"So then I guess Digna and Dey voted the mignon better, then?" Danica asked."Well, Calvin, I won so pay up."

"Oh you know, I think Dey has a couple more friends joining us." We all looked to the door and saw dark figures carrying covered golden platters, like what you expect to see at a fancy restaurant.

"What are you doing?! You let shadow people in my house?!" Dey exclaimed quite loudly.

"Relax, they only look like shadow servants. I would've used something else, but I can only control the one element I have," Calvin put his hands up in defense, "You know, to entertain the ladies."

"Oh. Next time, tell me when you're going to pull something like that. You know, they look exactly like shadow people. Only a charmer would know how to do that," Dey said. The shadowy people opened the platters and revealed a collection of pastries, breads, cookies, and baked goods in general. Everyone besides Dey and Calvin began Dey's eyes narrowed at Calvin, but he bit onto a cookie and his expression softened.

"I am a charmer," Calvin said. We all stopped and looked at him like he'd just poisoned us. "Of the ladies." Oh brother. We all laughed, mostly out of relief.

"But seriously though, you're not a charmer, right? I mean, I wouldn't exactly be surprised if you were, I mean… Your element is dark magic, after all," Dey said after six biscuits, four slices of cake, eight cookies, and at least five muffins.

"I have no idea what a charmer is," Calvin said. He pulled out a chair and sat. "So what is it?"

"It's right below a necromancer. If you're a shadow charmer, then you can make flawless representations of shadow people, sometimes even bring them to life. So tell me, have you ever touched an animal or plant and have it die at your touch?"

"Yeah, but it was a rat. Does that count?" Calvin said. We were still eating the desserts.

"Have you ever had history with telekinesis?" Dey asked, inspecting the cupcakes, trying to figure out which one was best to eat first.

"All the time." Calvin brought over a cookie to his hands from across the table to make his point.

"Hypnosis?"

"Occasionally. When the annoying populars won't leave me alone," Calvin replied. He was answering, and Dey was asking questions so fluidly and solidly, it seemed like they forgot the danger each answer held to each question.

"Odd cravings?" Dey asked.

"Example please."

"Anything bloody, uncooked, dark, related to the pomegranate, metallic, or flying," Dey stated.

"Yes, all of them. Sushi, pork's blood soup, raw pomegranates, Glate, and almost everything that flies."

"Okay. Cool. You're a charmer." Calvin almost took a spit take right in our faces.

"What? You're kidding right?" Calvin asked. We all stopped eating in shock, fear, and little of something else.

"Of course I am. If you were a charmer, you wouldn't have been able to enter my house without my permission. Duh," Dey said. We resumed eating like nothing happened.

"Oh, okay. Don't scare me like that. I could've died," Calvin laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I did," Calla inquired.

"So where are your parents? Are they at work or something? And what's Glate?" I asked. The house was very quiet in the house and there were no signs of any life beyond the first floor.

"Glate is a mythical flying thing. Like a winged cobra. My parents are out on a business meeting. See, they're both novelists and this company wanted to interview them about their books," Dey explained. Strange, his parents are out of town also.

"How long will they be out?" I asked.

"Anywhere between a week to a month."

"You know, it's strange that all our parents are out of town for the same amount of time. I wonder if they're connected to each other at all," I said. I was sure they were connected.

"Yeah, you know, I was wondering that too. I thought that maybe it was just a coincidence," Ieo said.

"I'm sure it's because of us. Or something that has to do with us or what's coming. I think it's like a thing to protect us or something," Calla said. She was talking about it like it was nothing while she was stuffing her face with Calvin's pastries.

"I know they'll be out for quite some time. They're in a meeting with the major gods. They're discussing the right 'time to move' or something like that," Digna said.

"And how do you know that, sweetheart?" Calvin said with a hostile smile.

"Vrí̱ka af̱tó to si̱meío̱ma," Digna said, powerfully flicking a piece of folded paper at him in the middle of his forehead. I think it meant "I found this note". Calvin opened the neatly folded paper and showed it to us before reading.

Φτάστε στον Όλυμπο σε τρεις ώρες. Θα συζητήσουμε την χρονική στιγμή της κίνησης. Να μην είναι αργά και θα μείνουν για μια εβδομάδα ή έτσι

-Zeus

" Ftáste ston Ólympo se treis ó̱res . Tha syzi̱tí̱soume ti̱n chronikí̱ stigmí̱ ti̱s kíni̱si̱s . Na mi̱n eínai argá kai tha meínoun gia mia evdomáda í̱ étsi . It means 'Arrive at Olympus in three hours. We will discuss the timing of the move. Don't be late and you will be staying for a week or so' in Greek. It's written in gold ink, only that of the gods," he said. His voice remarkably resembled that of … no. Not possible.

"They're making a move that has to do with us. Either to protect us, or fight with us, it's for our side," Calla said. Digna shook her head in disagreement.

"But my parents don't know what I am. They're atheists they don't believe in anybody," Digna protested.

"Then they're not atheists. They're just extremely great actors, if they can hide a secret that big from someone like you. I mean, if they're atheists, then you would be, in which you're not," Calvin reasoned.

"So then what are they planning? Why would they hide it from us anyway, if we already know what we are?" Gavin asked. He was observing and playing with one of the shadow figures. His finger sent a tendril of dark smoke away from the figure but it quickly came back to complete the shadow before it touched anything.

"Come in contact with it too much, and it'll be deadly," Calvin said. Gavin withdrew his hand from the creature.

"But why would they have to hide it from us if we already know?" Danica asked. She was blending us smoothies, probably to even out the match with Calvin's Bakery.

"Because they don't know that we know, so we thought that they didn't know we knew. Make sense?" I said. It sounds confusing when you read it, and I bet you skipped that sentence, but it was clear thanks to my tone.

"How do we know that it isn't just Digna's parents? How can we be sure that all our parents went to Olympus? What if some of them are actually out on normal business trips?" I asked. I knew it was unlikely, but what if the others could've changed my mind?

"Yeah, the parents of eight people would definitely all be out on business trips at the same time, for the same amount of time, and that's totally not suspicious, especially because their kids are just normal teenagers. I love your logic," Calvin spat at me. What was his deal? Shouldn't I be the moody one?

"What's your problem? Ever since I saw you last, you've been completely mean to everybody. What did I do to you? What did anybody do to you?" Digna sharply said.

" Ótan fili̱thí̱kame , mou thýmise póso polý ponáei gia na cháseis kápoion pou pragmatiká agapoúse . Écho̱ aisthantheí ti eínai san na chásei mia ali̱thiní̱ agápi̱ ! Mí̱po̱s sas ? Óchi ! Pithanón na perpatí̱sete gýro̱ apó to spásimo kardiés gia káthe ví̱ma pou paírnete . Amfivállo̱ an échete poté aisthi̱tés akómi̱ kai ti eínai I̱ agápi̱ !" Calvin shouted. Digna's hair was catching fire as the water in her eyes contradicted her element. She would not let them fall, especially after earlier.

I'll translate for you. Danica's distinct sweet voice rang in my head.

Thanks, what did he just yell? I answered back. I didn't translate too well.

He said "When we kissed, I was reminded of how much it hurts to lose someone you actually loved. I've felt what it's like to lose a true love! Do you?! No! You probably walk around breaking hearts for every step you take. I doubt you've ever even felt what love is!" I'm pretty sure that's right. she said. They kissed? Well it doesn't matter because Digna and I knew perfectly well how wrong Calvin was.

"You don't know that! I've known you for like a week but I know almost everything about you! You've known me for the same amount of time, but you have learned nothing about me! What do you know about my past?! Who am I? What do you know about me?! You know that I'm a blonde, that I'm a cliché, and you know my stereotype. Only my stereotype!" she almost screamed. Dey was watching like it was movie, and Calla was death-staring her brother. Digna walked out and went to the flower garden in the backyard.

"Why would you do that?" Calla asked Calvin, massaging her temples. "Has nothing gotten in your head? I already yelled at you, what's going on?"

"Genesey's alive. She spoke to me an hour ago…" Calvin's eyes were red and brimmed with tears. "She's not dead yet."

Genesey? Genesey… Genesey!

"Genesey Rose?" I asked them. Calvin looked at me with disdain.

"How do you know her? What do you know about her?" he said rudely.

"Genesey Rose's real name is Genasaea Bleudoux. She's my sister who's been dead for ages, she can't be alive." (jen-a-say-uh) Calvin's face was swept with obvious confusion.

"We're all going to get along just fine. Perfectly fine," Dey said, amused, sitting back in his chair, continuing with his eating.

"Last time I saw was about six months ago. She turned on us. On me. She said she felt so bad so she left for a place where she'll never see anyone she ever can hurt ever again. She never told me what happened to her since then."

"She disappeared from home decades ago. Nobody saw a sign of her since then. I've been all over the cosmos looking for my sister. There was no sign of her existence, but no sign of her corpse either," I said.

Genasaea and I were very close. Daily, she would hunt down the monsters that were terrorizing the citizens of Olympus and Earth. She was good with about any weapon, except for the axe, which was too heavy for her smaller frame. She would primarily use an Archxiton shield, a gift from Hephaestus, and a long, glass sword that was ultra thin, to blend in with most surroundings. She was like a female Hercules.

Using the rewards from her kills, she held up the family and provided everything for us. See, I was too young to join her and her crew in the kills, so I could do nothing to help. She was a good older sister. She never complained about working too hard or being the only one to do anything.

Our mother was always out in the field growing the ingredients for the gods' ambrosia. I just stayed at home and sometimes did experiments or studied Genesaea's next targets, looking for any additional information that would help her defeat the bests. Losing our mother to the Great Annihilation was a tragedy for us. Our dad, Zeus, was always up in Olympus, so he wasn't much help either. Genasaea stayed at home and cried to her trophies from the glory days. I was then capable enough to continue her quests. She had planned most of her quests in advance, so I went to complete those first. In the blink of a lightning bolt, we had switched roles.

During the aftermath of the Great Annihilation, Genasaea Bleudoux lost everything she had to fight for. She gave up on her quests and went into a state of depression. After a few decades, I finally knocked some sense into her. I repeatedly told her that mom wouldn't want us living like this. Mom would want us to keep fighting and come back stronger than ever before.

She came back fiercer than before, if it was possible. She no longer used stealth to follow her enemy then slay them when she caught them off guard. She just provoked them and engaged in combat. Sometimes, she just pranced into the creature's territory and swung her sword. I went with her of course, since I went back to doing the major research. She changed her name to Genesey Rose. She said that a new name would make the new start of a new life official. We caught Zeus' attention and reminded him how much of a great father he is. We reminded him that his children were not just going to forgive him for forgetting them.

We ignored his offers of extravagant palaces to stay at, weapons to choose from, and riches we could never come up with by ourselves. We were surviving, and we were happy. The only offer we, as a team, accepted was the one that would allow us to hurt the cause of the Great Annihilation. To hurt the one who crushed our already low lives. All I had to do was live on earth and pretend to be her best friend. Then everything would fall into place at the right time. Surprisingly, it did. For the most part.

I'm not sure, but I think I lied when I said I looked at Digna as just a friend. Don't get me wrong, I love Danica with all my heart, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to hate Digna the way she does. Every now and then, I wonder what would have happened differently if Digna and I never split paths…

Scratch that, it's in the past. I love Danica and that will stay that forever. I can like Digna as a sister. If I can help it. What? Of course I can. Besides, Digna's heart… I want to say it belongs to Calvin, but I'm honestly not sure anymore.

"She's still alive. She's just doesn't want to part of our lives anymore. You know Genesey, if she sets her mind into it, it'll get done. Even if you don't want her to. That's one of the reasons I lo-lo, " Calvin cut himself off.

"One of the reasons you…" Dey gestured for him to finish, smirk forming in the corner of his mouth. Calla was uncontrollably staring. He was just sitting there, watching us like a movie and eating like he was in a theatre.

"Why I admire her. Yeah, now I admire her," he said. He wasn't exactly convincing anyone, even himself.

"No… no way, you're JJ," I said. It finally hit me. Genesey was also sent somewhere to befriend someone, but she never told me it was Calvin! She always talked about how awesome, cool, "hot", nice, caring, warm, tall, and perfect he was. Then again, Calvin got his looks from me so… yeah. It finally came together. JJ came from Jay, Calvin's middle name! She must've left because she felt like she was betraying him!

"A month before she disappeared, she would always come home crying, or furious, with herself. She would always talk about how ' everything has a price, whether it works for you or nah. Everything good comes with a price and everything bad has a reward.'" Now I understood what she meant. Hurting Digna was our reward, and she had to get hurt in return. But how was she hurt? Wasn't she supposed to hurt Calvin? Ish?

"What happened to her? Why did she become all sad and mad before she left? I'm sure you know because it's impossible you weren't part of it." I heard a heavy and hitched sigh from him.

"When she left, she said nothing to me. She left us the same, no explanation at all. But just about an hour ago, she said the most beautiful things to me. She said that she left to a place where she could never hurt any she loved anymore. She didn't die or get killed or anything. She said that' she's in a great place where she's not hurting anyone she loves, where she's being taken care of, where they treat her well, and where her new happy is. She told me that you and her were a hunting team," his eyes narrowed, "she told me the full story. What's that about?"

"Not the time. So she's in a place where they're treating her well, they're taking care of her… who's they?" I changed the subject. Dey was pretty interested, and the others gawked with no action.

"I'm willing to bet it's someone we don't want her to be around. Maybe even what we're up against. We still don't know who or what we are battling," Calvin pointed out. He could be right, it wasn't impossible. But then again, would Genasaea really side with the enemy? Maybe she didn't know that he was the enemy… Maybe she didn't have much of a choice. But what if she did side with the enemy out of her free will and knowing?

"But what if not?" Danica's voice snapped me out of my probably unlikely thoughts. I forgot my mind was open. No use in blocking it at that point. She had a raised eyebrow that made her look like he Evil Queen from Snow White.

"Hey, that's my line," Calla pouted.

"We can share," Danica smiled. That smile will never get old. For some reason, that smile didn't look right. It was definitely the signature smile I fell deeply in love with, but it looked like it came from another face… Digna's face. Her smile became slightly crooked. Shoot, she heard me!

"It's okay. I was trying to copy her anyway. Now I know," she said with a genuine smile. At least it looked like her flawless smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to think like that, it just came into my head. I promise, I love you," I said and hugged her tightly. She returned the hug like I didn't just hurt her.

"I like you guys already," Dey interrupted. He just finished off the cookies and was making his way through the rolls.

"Have you no stomach?" Calvin asked Dey. He simply shook his head.

"Anyway, my best friend has uncovered some information for us. At least some. We now know what our next event is going to be," Calla intervened.

"Really? What's it going to be?" I asked. If we knew what was next, we could prepare for it, or even stop it from even happening.

"The Rush of Thieves. If we're going to stop it, then we'll have to take a road trip to the gambling city of the U.S.," Calla slickly said. Our faces lit up at her statement.

"Las Vegas!" we shouted in unison.

"All right, load up!" Dey yelled. We were about to embark on a long drive to Las Vegas. We could've drove there in a day, but then we have to stop for various reasons. One, we have to check if there's like any magical barrier or a shield. If there is, we'd crash into it like it was a brick wall.

We walked in expecting a cramped bus, but instead we got a palace. The tour bus was like an actor's. It had two floors, six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a complete kitchen, a freaking living room, and each room ad a queen sized bed and a mini refrigerator. How all that fit into a tour bus is magical.

"How does all this fit in a tour bus?" Ieo asked. Dey had the tour bus set up. He said he rented it, but, by the looks of it, I'm guessing he crafted it from magic or his element.

"It's magic. Like his fridge and my garage," I said. Magic is not reality, and reality is logical, magic isn't as logical as reality.

"What's your element? Spatial reasoning ?" Gavin asked. We laughed a little, since we were still not felling as well as we could be.

"I don't have an element like you guys. I'm not immortal. One day Atropos of the Fates will one day cut my string . I'm just like a charm expert, or healer, or consultant. I'm like your little encyclopedia," he cheekily grinned.

"How come I didn't know that? I thought you were one of us," Calla said. I thought she was his best friend? Then again, me and Danica, right?

"Oh well, right? I guess you'll all live forever young and I'll end up dead sometime," he cheerfully said. It was obvious Calla was a little sad. "But I'm only sixteen, lighten up!"

"Yeah, this should be the most exciting year of your life. Sixteen and driving a tour bus. That's one on the list of exciting events. By the end of this, you'll have a lot, I assure you," Danica said.

"Yeah, since I'm with you guys, this will definitely be one of my best years. Anyway, pick your rooms, everybody, the room you choose now will be the room you get for the rest of the time we have," Dey replied.

"Rest of the time we have? Seriously?" Calla raised an amused eyebrow at him.

"You want the truth, or a lie?" I said while walking past them and ascending he winding staircase. Mind as well have an elevator and a pool in the tour bus then.

I chose the room second farthest from the bathroom. Digna beat me to the room farthest, so second best isn't bad. I always choose the room farthest from the bathroom because, on, I don't wake up at the usual times other people do unless I have to, which means when the all get up to use the bathroom, I tend to wake up off schedule. I always use it last to avoid the hurry-up-in-there-you're-no-the-only-person-in-the-world screams.

Unfortunately, Calvin thought I took the second room to be sandwiched between Digna and Danica. For some stupid reason, my gut wasn't entirely rejecting the idea. The important thing is, I got a room I liked, and it was just next door to Danica.

"There's only six rooms, but eight of us. Where's Dey and Gavin going to sleep?" I asked mischievously. We all raised our eyebrows at them.

"I'll probably just end up driving the whole time, but Calla isn't always sleeping, so I can sleep there if I have to," Dey slickly replied. We suppressed our giggles for the most part and Gavin nudged him. "Okay, first of all, I don't have to drive you guys, you know. Second, what's wrong with me sleeping in her room?" We couldn't take it, we burst out laughing. How could he not pick up?

"Okay. Hold on… okay. You and Calla are opposite genders and you're both right about at that age of stupidity, curiosity, and probably very experimental even. Piece that together, and you'll get it," Digna explained.

"You guys are crazy. She's my best friend!" he protested. Oh sure, best friends.

"Oh please. Then we're all best friends here," I said. Dey just shook his head and resumed his place in the driver's seat. The rest of us attacked the refrigerator in the kitchen. I tried to stuff as much as I could into my mini one up in my room. I was sure we cleaned out the entire fridge, but after we shoved our 'rations' into our mini fridges, the big one in the kitchen filled up again. Magic, no doubt.

I started making my room more comfortable but opening my duffle bag and rummaging through my clothes. It became messy, which I liked, but I cornered the mess to stay in the bag.

The room was pretty decent. It looks like your typical hotel room, but a little smaller and no personal bathroom, which was fine. The door had two locks, one for the doorknob and a bolted one for the actual door. There was a small, beside table with a purple abstract lamp and an electric outlet. I plugged in my charger and charged my phone. I plopped onto the huge bed and closed my eyes. This was going to be a long drive.

Chapter 27: {Ieo}