here it is folks, the second book in my "Saviors of Olympus" (yes it has a fancy samanshy name now) and pretty much this book will most likely be the last one... Unless I decide that I want to continue writing a with Milo and K.C. But what the heck, I might as well just write one shots after this, you guys go ahead and let me know What you think. Also, I've been dying the write one of those books from Henry's point of view, you know like do the goddess interrupted or something, I've wanted to do that for like forever now since I read the one book on here that someone did the for first book. Let me know if anyone would like me to do that, since it might take... Gasp... Effort! lolz, okay, so comment and let me know what you guys think of the first chapter.
Silence, that was what it felt like. The silence had been eternal for the past thirteen years, and as Henry sat there thinking about that silence a noise distracted him, breaking the silence suddenly. He raised his eyes and saw her entering. He felt his heart break as she passed him, her brown hair falling to her waist. James had forced to wear a dress today, and although Henry loved the way she dressed normally, she looked awe inspiring as she crossed the throne room to the throne that James had designated as hers. She sat down softly and then looked right at him, her eyes were glowing softly with hatred, ad Henry looked back at the doors as James walked in. He had changed his appearance slightly, to make himself appear older, and he had been trying to get Kate to, but his urges reached deaf ears.
Kate shifted uncomfortably when James touched her hand softly as he went to sit down on his throne, he smiled at Henry across the way and then said, "comfortable?"
Henry smiled, trying to seem happy and said, "you're a bastard James."
There was snort as one of the council members tried to hide a laugh. James's smile fell slowly until he was frowning, and then he said, "interesting, as I recall, your queen is sitting up here with me."
He ran his fingers across Kate's cheek softly, and then pulled away and backhanded her across the cheek. Kate not expecting the blow fell out of the throne and onto the floor where she laid silent for a few seconds, her eyes burned with silent tears. She softly reached up and touched her cheek, which was turning red from where James's hand had hit her. She glared at him, but didn't say a word as she rose slowly from the floor and took her seat again.
The room was deathly silent again, and everyone seemed to turn to see Henry's reaction. He was standing stock still, his hands clenched into fists at his side, his eyes trying and failing to burn holes in the glass so that he could rip James apart on the spot. Somewhere from within the room, Persephone shifted and whispered, "James, don't you dare hit her again."
James looked over at her. Persephone was trapped behind a glass wall, separating her from everyone else, but able to see everyone else. James had punished her severely when he had caught her ten years after she had escaped with Milo and K.C. She'd been tortured until Kate had stepped in and stopped James. She had argued with James until James had called Circe forward. The witch had closed Kate's vocal cords, and forced her into silence. James had let Circe make the curse permanent until he said it could be had come in handy one night seven years ago when James had slipped into Kate's room and done what everyone thought he had only talked about doing.
Henry had almost escaped that night, he had managed to almost shatter the glass when he had heard Eris whispering to a guard. The glass had cracked without him even trying, and all the power he had been building up fueled with the desperate desire to break out and save his wife almost shattered the glass. Almost, but not enough. Circe had arrived and fixed it, by then Henry couldn't produce enough to break the glass fully.
Everyone waited for him to say something and then James smiled and said, "tell me Henry, what do you have to say, out with it. I'm in the mood for a good argument."
Kate's face flashed with anger and she glared at James, her eyes practically speaking the words that desired to come out of her mouth. James sighed and then rising from the throne said, "where's you boy Henry? Isn't he supposed to come?"
Henry set his jaw and forced himself to be patient, James was only digging into them to try and get a rise, but he would realize that eventually that wouldn't work. James smiled and then walking over to Henry said, "really, I'm getting quite bored waiting for him."
Henry smiled, letting all his tension out in waves of power, Circe looked up from her position across the room and glared at him, apparently she was still upset that he had almost broken out seven years ago. Henry tilted his head to the side as if he were thinking and said to James, "I'm sure he preparing to fight you. A battle that he is surly prepared for, and is over complicating."
James laughed, it was more of a dry barking laugh though and he eventually said, "that's a good one, couldn't have said it better myself."
Circe let out a soft giggle and then James glared at her and she covered her mouth forcing herself to be silent. Kate smiled slightly and then covered it quickly when James glanced at her and beckoned her over. She narrowed her eyes, and then rose slowly. She walked down the steps to the floor and then walked across the throne room to stand next to James. He smiled when she reached him and he moved her hair delicately out of her face then kissed her cheek which was still red and whispered to her softly. She narrowed her eyes, but kept them on Henry's face. He looked at her sadly, and she clenched her right hand into a fist. Henry sighed and then said, "you've won, there is no more you could possible do to win."
James smiled softly and then kissing Kate's temple whispered, "I can do a lot more to win, eventually you will see why."
He laid his hand softly on the small of Kate's back and then gave her a guided push towards the doors. He smiled at Henry and then looking at Circe said, "keep an eye on them for me, I'll be back soon."
He moved Kate away from the council and Kate looked over her shoulder at Henry, he turned to watch James lead her away. As he did he shouted at James, "I heard that it is traditional to carry the girl to your bed."
James smiled at Henry and said, "when have I ever been one for tradition?"
Hanry glared at James again and James continued to lead Kate out of the room. She looked over her shoulder and mouthed something to him. Over the past thirteen years Henry had become what he liked to think of as an expert on reading lips. Kate had mouthed the same thing for thirteen years though. It was only three words, but seeing them try to leave her lips made his heart ache with sadness.
He nodded to her and her eyes welled up with tears as she turned her head and then walked out with James. Henry swallowed and then sat down slowly, now all he had to do was wait until James returned later and left Kate. He took a deep breath and wrapped Kate's words around his heart and mind. Her love was the only thing it seemed that kept him from fading inside the glass. She still loved him, even though James laid her in a bed almost every other week to get to Henry. She still loved him, and he knew that if they could speak to each other though their hearts and minds, she would still be whispering the same words, perhaps screaming them.
I love you.
I love you.
That had been his present. His twenty first birthday present. A piece of paper that had been folded and tied to a dove that had landed on the windowpane and pecked at the glass until he had gotten up and opened it. The bird had flown in and landed on the bedpost of his bed. It had chirped softly until he had walked over to inspect what it had brought. Tied to its leg had been a tiny piece of paper, that had been ripped from another piece of paper. He had untied the sting and given the bird a corn nut from a bag that he kept by his bed should he get any secret messages from anyone who knew how to use the birds.
He had been expecting something else, perhaps a few more words than the three that had been delicately written. The bird chirped softly and when he had looked at it, it had chirped happy birthday. He had smiled, a birthday it definitely was, but a happy one was definitely in question.
That had been three hours ago, now, he was sitting at the wheel of an old Toyota camari, waiting for his sister to get out of the store already. A few minutes after he had been sitting there waiting a teenage girl with dark brown hair came running out of the store, a plastic bag around her wrist and when he saw that she was running he frowned and unlocked the car. She practically ripped the door off the car when she opened it and then slammed it shut, almost breaking the glass.
"Go My!"
He sighed and started the car, once he had he looked over his shoulder and saw that three people had followed his sister out of the store. They were dressed funny for the part of New York that they were in, but he knew who they were none the less. He narrowed his eyes and slammed hard on the gas. His sister screeched softly as he turned sharply onto the street and sped off towards the freeway. It was about time they got out of New York anyway, they'd stayed much longer than he had desired to.
A few hours after they had been on the freeway, his sister had reached into the bag and said, "happy birthday."
He glanced over at her and nodded at the white and green cupcake she was holding. She frowned at his lack of enthusiasm and said, "look I know it's a cupcake but that's all I could get, and you at least deserve it. So pull over so that you can eat it."
He sighed softly and then said, "K.C, later, right now I'm trying to-"
"No, you are pulling over and eating this damn cupcake that I saved up for." She glared at him and he could almost feel her eyes boring holes into his head.
He sighed and then smiling softly at her stubbornness pulled over to the side of the freeway. K.C smiled, happy at getting her way and reached into the bag and pulled out the cheap candle she had bought that was shaped like a twenty one. She stuck it in the cupcake,almost succeeding in breaking the thing to pieces. She had nodded at her handiwork and then her eyes widened and she touched her finger to the tip of the candle, a tiny flame sprung up from her touch and she smiled as she handed it to him. He frowned and said, "I wish you would have bought a lighter. You know how I feel about you doing that."
K.C smiled and the said, "hey, lighting one candle won't kill anyone. Now you have to blow out the candle and make a wish."
He sighed and took the cupcake from her, he closed his eyes for the effect she desired and blew out the tiny flame. K.C laughed and clapped happily. He set the cupcake down and she threw her arms around his neck and shouted, "happy birthday Milo!"
Milo sighed and than said, "alright, you get half and I'll eat half." He pulled back out onto the freeway and K.C peeled off the wrapper and took out the candle, she looked at the cupcake and then whispered, "how long is the protection spell going to last?"
Milo gripped the wheel tightly, he had dreaded the day his sister asked that question. He frowned and the said, "I'm not sure."
"Don't lie milo. I know when you lie." K.C whispered as she looked at the cupcake in her hands. Milo looked at her sidelong for a moment before whispering, "it ends when I turn twenty one."
"So it ends today?"
"Pretty much."
She was silent for a long period of time before she said, "Milo, how come you didn't tell me?"
Milo chewed on the inside of his cheek for a second, contemplating his answer, first off he knew he hadn't wanted to scare his sister, second off, when his aunt had put it on them she had told Milo to never tell K.C when it ended. He decided the latter would make K.C upset so he said, "I, I didn't want you to worry about it. It's something for me to worry about."
K.C looked at him carefully, and Milo felt his chest constrict, K.C didn't know how much she looked like their mother when she did that. "So does that mean James is going to come for us?"
"No, he will come for me, not you. He will take me out and that means I have to hide you carefully."
"That's a lie Milo." He gripped the wheel and set his jaw, he really hated the fact that he and his sister could not keep secrets, any word one spoke the other could tell if it was a lie the moment it left their lips.
Milo sighed and then said, "K.C, James will come for us. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want to scare you."
K.C nodded, happy with Milo's words, and then said, "so, where are we going now?"
"We're going to see a friend of mine. Someone who I can trust with our safety." Milo replied softly as he passed a car and pulled into the next lane. K.C watched him carefully for a second before saying, "so... We're going to see lux and Casey?"
"No. We, we can't see them anymore." Milo whispered as he glanced in the rear view mirror for any suspicious activity or cars behind them. Years of being on the run, on his own, without his aunt to keep them safe, had taken its toll on him. Mentally and physically. Mentally, he was sharper, knew who was lying and who he could trust, knew when to run and when to stay in the shadows and rest. Only, he didn't do the resting, K.C did, he stayed awake, reading, or staring up at the sky wondering of his mother was looking down and could feel his fear. Physically, that was where he had changed the most. He'd sprouted to almost six feet in the past two to three years, had grown leaner and stronger after fighting off minor gods or goddess that they ran into. Above all though, he looked... older somehow, darker, almost a shadow on the wall. A minor god who had helped them a few weeks ago had almost mistake him for his father. Apparently, he looked spirit worn, tired, almost jaded. He felt that way though. Everyday was, get up, get ready, make sure K.C was ready to go, drive to a new hotel, fight off some mythical being or creature that had come to kill them or take them up to Olympus. Everyday ended the same, him lying down on the bed next to K.C, or the couch in the living area of the hotel room, and opening and closing the locket around his neck. The locket had been a gift from is mother, through his aunt, on his thirteenth birthday. Inside was a picture of his mother, father and himself when he was a baby. Only, it wasn't just a picture, it was a memory, and try as he might, he couldn't recall th memories of his childhood very well. All he could remember was the night his aunt had stolen him and his sister from Olympus. He could remember James's face twisted in fury as they vanished. If it wasn't for the locket, Milo feared he would have forgotten what his father looked like.
"Hello? Earth to Milo! Calling my brother!"
Milo blinked and shook his head, he had zoned out and K.C was waving her hand in front of his face trying to get his attention. He sighed and then said, "Sorry, K.C. You were going to ask me something I'm guessing?"
She rolled her eyes in a very thirteen year old girl way, and then crossing her arms said, "Yeah, I've been repeating the same question for the past minute. Why can't we see them anymore?"
Milo griped the wheel and then said, "Because James caught them, and Casey, you remember his myth right?" He'd really tried to install the myths in his sister, the more up to date ones at least, and she had remembered them pretty well, considering the fact that those were her bedtime stories when she was five.
She nodded and Milo swallowed, Lux had shoved him in a closet when it had happened, he had watched it through a partially opened door. He had seen James throw Lux across the room, and then point at Casey and turn him to dust on the spot. Lux had sobbed in agony and then James had left him for Circe and Eris to play with. Milo had watched in horror, his fist in his mouth to keep from crying himself, as Eris and Circe did horrible things to Lux; things that had given Milo nightmares. Most of which involved them preforming the same things on him and he being powerless to stop them.
"Because, James sent Casey back to the Underworld, and Lux... he's gone. I can't find him."
The last part was a little white lie. He knew where Lux was, he just couldn't bare to tell K.C that he was locked up in a fiery pit in the Underworld, burning for eternity, or at least until Milo and K.C rightfully gained their thrones and remove his punishment. K.C's eyes widened and tears welled up until one by one they trickled down her cheeks and off her chin. Casey and Lux had been like their uncles, protecting them and teaching them. Casey had taught Milo everything he had known about being on the run, and because of them, he had been able to teach K.C everything they had taught him.
Milo swallowed the knot in his throat and then whispered, "the person we're going to see though, you'll like them. They have a lot of books."
K.C narrowed her eyes and looked out the window. That was another thing about his sister, she was stubborn. Incredibly stubborn, in fact, Milo believed in a competition between her and a donkey dragging its feet, she would win. She refused to stop mourning everyone who helped them and had been punished by James in response. Milo reached his arm around his shoulders and squeezed hr shoulder tightly in his grasp. K.C let out a sob and then buried her face in her hands. Milo pulled into another lane and then whispered, "we'll be okay, I promise K.C. We're going to be okay, I won't let anyone hurt you."
And he meant it, Milo Winters meant every word he had ever told his sister.
They were still driving well into the night, and around eleven K.C had taken her contacts out, making her blue eyes a moonlight gray instantly. They had had no choice but to hide her real eyes behind contacts, there was no telling what people would think. Then Milo had reached behind her and pulled his big jacket off the back seat and handed it to her. K.C had smiled and wrapped herself in it. Their aunt had gone into the Underworld ad retrieved it. It had belonged to their father before it had belonged to him, and to Milo, it still smelled like him. To K.C it was a dream, a dream that she hoped one day would become reality. Milo waited until she was sleeping to turn up the radio slightly. They kept driving, Milo looking for an exit that only existed for immortals.
When they pulled off the highway, it was two in the morning. K.C was still sleeping, curled up in the passenger seat. Milo looked over at her while he pulled off, and smiled slightly. She was so peaceful when she slept, and it allowed him to relax when he saw her like that. It also reminded him that she was only thirteen, a baby in the eyes of the Olympians. He was maybe a baby to them too, after all when he had asked Casey in secret how old his dad really was, Casey had laughed and said that no one knew, his father had probably lost track himself. Milo had stopped asking questions like that afterward. He turned onto a dirt road and the bumps woke K.C and she yawned, looked at the time on the dashboard and then looked outside. She frowned at the car high grasses, the dirt road, and then dark sky outside. She blinked and then said, "where are we?"
"We're on the boarder of New York and Massachusetts." Milo answered as he pushed the gas even harder. The engine groaned, since the car was older than Milo himself, and then picked up speed. K.C smiled at him and said, "don't run her into the ground, not like you ran Alice?"
"You shut your mouth."
"Oh, you mean about you and Alice? Did you even call her back?" K.C smiled and then poked Milo in the cheek. He pushed her hand away and K.C laughed. Milo narrowed his eyes but couldn't help smiling as he answered, "yes, I did call her. I tried to explain to her who we were and she hung up before I got to finish."
K.C laughed again and then said, "poor thing, she probably called the nut house on you. Is that why we left Rhode Island so early?"
"No, the reason we left was because that Minotaur attacked you in the frozen's aisle while you were buying your stupid rocky road ice cream."
K.C smiled and then said, "you forget you wanted that ice cream too."
They both smiled at each other, sharing such a similar smile it could have been a mirror reflection, and then Milo looked back at the road and said, "besides Alice was a mortal. When we got back to Olympus they would have said no the minute I opened my mouth about it."
"Mom and dad would have said yes though, right?"
Milo frowned for a minute, he didn't really the know the answer, he hoped that they would have said yes, but then again, they were only two members on a council of what, twelve? He smiled and said, "I had hoped they would have said yes. But, they're only two people, they have to convince the entire council."
K.C frowned and looking out the window said to no one in particular, "how is anything done if everyone has to agree on the same course of action, what if one person has a really good idea and it could really help, but no one agrees?"
Milo shrugged and then leaned forward to try and find the break in the grass he was looking for, the last time he had driven past it and he had backed up for almost ten minutes before he found it.
Suddenly he saw it and he turned sharply almost throwing K.C out of her seat. She screeched and then Milo laughed as he shot down the smaller road. K.C screaming at him the entire time to slow down. Milo saw the dark shape ahead of them before K.C did, and he grabbed her face and turned her chin to see it. Then he put his hand back on the wheel and slowed down. After driving for ten minutes on the tiny road they passed over a little bridge which was over a small river. K.C looked out the side of the car and smiled when she saw the river. Milo drove through the wrought iron gates and K.C mouth dropped open when she saw the driveway leading up to the giant house that was painted white with large French doors on both levels. She looked at the flowers that grew everywhere and K.C whispered, "what is this place Milo?"
Milo smiled and said, "welcome to the home of the Muses."
