Just Read The Book
Wow, I actually got reviews and alerts and favourites! That's more than I thought I would get. Thank you so much! I didn't even think I would get any hits. Well, I decided to post the second chapter to give you a better idea of how it's going to be. This is where the movie will start, but it gets more interesting - I guess? - in the third chapter, so if I still get a good response, I will post the third chapter maybe next week?
Thanks so much!
Chapter Two.
Zeus' Shadow
It wasn't a pleasant feeling, landing in boiling hot sand, but when I felt air hit my face, I gasped for it. It felt like an eternity that I wasn't breathing and half way through that vortex I thought I was dead. Shortly after I landed, so did Lake, and he too was coughing for air. I still wasn't mentally ready to register what happened, all I wanted to do was get off the hot sand that was burning my knees and palms. I glanced around and found a shadow that was made by something large. I didn't bother to check what exactly that was, so all I did was pull Lake's arm and signaled over to the shadow and the cooled sand. We got there in time before our skin started to bubble, and I nearly kissed the sand at how cool it was. For now this will be our sanctuary.
I flopped on my back, breathing heavily with my mouth, with my eyes closed because the brightness of the white sand was hurting my eyes. Before I could say anything, or get a grip on where we were, because it was obviously not our backyard, Lake exclaimed.
"Holy shit! It worked!" I felt him get on his feet, struggling a bit to even stand up on the sand.
"Lake, that's-" I started to get onto my elbows and finally opened my eyes. We were on a beach, the smell of salt water was more noticeable now that my lungs were filled with its air, and there was sand and trees as far as the eye can see. No buildings, no polluted airs, no motorboats, or docks, or the CN Tower in the distance. There was no fresh water, or people, and the sand was never this clean. We were defiantely not in Toronto anymore, but I just refused to believe that it actually worked...that it actually took us to Ancient Greece, and not the normal kind, but the one where Mythical creatures existed, the one that I could only read it about, or watched in Disney...
I remembered then, being sucked into a vacuum, being pulled and stretched for miles, and not being able to speak, or breathe, or hear, or smile. Was it really just death, and this was the shore of Heaven? Or Hell?
Lake was screaming with success, rolling his fingers in the cool sand, and left the shade to marvel at the clean surroundings of Ancient times. I was left on the floor, eyes wide, trying to accept the fact that either I was dead, or my brother's invention really worked. I pinched myself to see if I was sleeping, but the pain was real, the smells were real, the air was real, and the sights...well, they were not a hallucination if Lake saw them too.
"I can't believe...it actually worked," I whispered to myself, as I got onto my knees.
"Haha! I did it! I did! it! Jason Kim can kiss my ass!" Lake was dancing around, his mop of dark brown - almost black - hair flying in the wind. Suddenly he turned, and his smile broaden even wider, if that was even possible. He was looking at something over head, and then pointed at it, "Look, Demi!"
I struggled to get on my feet, because my knees were wobbly from nearly fainting, and being caught off by the weight on my waist from the sword. I trudged through the sand, ignoring the tiny burns it gave me when it seeped into my sandals, and then followed Lake's finger.
What I saw was a massive man. A statue of a man. However it was no man, but a God, wielding a bolt of lightening. It was the single most largest statue I've ever seen, and it was also what was casting the shadow we were previously laying in. We were under the Statue of Zeus. And I recognized it. Not from stories, not from pictures. In fact, this statue isn't even supposed to exist. At least, there was no evidence of it, even if his feet were left when...
Oh God. I turned to Lake, "What did you put in the smaller platform? Was it a book?"
"Uh, no a movie," he looked at me for a brief second, and then back to marveling at the statue. "Clash of the Titans, I think."
My eyes widened, and I gripped the laces of the top of his breast plate and pulled him to face me, "Which one?"
His green were wide and frightened, "Uh, the one with the guy from Avatar. Why?"
I dropped his breast plate and extended my fingers as if about to choke him, "Why...Why...Why did you use the movie?"
He shrugged, "What's the difference? It's the same story isn't it? I couldn't find the old movie, and the book was still on back order."
That's when I let it out. I started screaming in frustration. I wasn't one to hold in my anger, part of the reason why red is my colour. Speaking of colour, I had a colourful vocabulary as I yelled at Lake of his stupidity. And I had every right to. He pulled me through a Wormhole, into Ancient Greece, for his homework assignment, and it's not even the right story. And worst of it is that not only was this movie a bad one, but we were stuck here for a month. Longer than the duration in which Perseus had to stop the Kraken. All because Lake refused to read the book.
"Demi! Demi, calm down!" Lake held down my arms from swinging at him and captured my eyes to his. "Listen. I'm sorry. I didn't know. I didn't have time to watch it, cause I just got it this morning...I'm sorry. But it's too late right now, we have to stay here for a month."
"I hate you so much right now," I growled, having half a mind to jab him with my new sword.
"I know, I know," he grinned charmingly, being very calm for someone who made a huge error in detail. He dropped his hands from my arms and then grew serious, "So, have you seen the movie?"
"Of course I've seen it. It's completely different to the original story."
"In what way?"
"In almost every way, that's why no one liked it. The only reason why I watched it, is because Ralph Fiennes is in it."
Lake grinned, and lifted his arms up, "Well, that's good isn't it? You know what's going to happen, and you're going to meet Ralph Fiennes."
I paused from yelling at him again, and looked with curiosity, "What do you mean?"
"Well," he ran his fingers through his dark locks, "The platform copies the images - or words if a book - and rewrites them to the Wormhole. In other words, we are actually in the movie, all actors remain the same. The only thing that may happen are change of dialogue, events, and even relationships."
"Why is that?" I asked, walking over to the duffle bag that was left in the shadow.
"Because we're in here of course. We don't know if we will change the story, and how. And since this is a movie, we don't have to be walking with caution... The Butterfly Effect has no effect here."
I sat on a rock on where the sand met the cliffs and trees and crossed my legs, "So, let's say if I were to kill the Princess here, it wouldn't effect how the story is told?"
"No, it would only effect the DVD I bought. When we return, our characters would be included in the movie, but only in that one copy. Did you say princess?"
I ignored his question as now I had a smug smile on my face, "Interesting..." Yes, I had plans...Not straight forward plans, mind you, but ideas of plans. Perhaps I could get a kick at changing the destiny for some people. Like actually killing Andromeda. I didn't care for her in this movie...she gave off that Teenage personality, that her morals and actions were far more superior than anyone elses, just because she has a soft heart and goes around giving bread to people. Kraken's gotta eat, doesn't he?
The sun was starting to set, which meant that Argos' Army wasn't to attend this day, giving us some time to adjust. So we decided to get onto higher grounds before they do attack and we could avoid the Harpies by staying hidden. There was a cave on the side of the cliff nearest to the Statue, but still on the edge of the beach so it wasn't hard to get to. From there we would have a perfect view of the fall of the Statue, and the rise of the Harpies and Hades, and most likely, Perseus and his family.
Before we ate, I attempted at refreshing Lake's basic idea of fencing. It was difficult even for me, because the swords I had used in Fencing were much lighter and flexible. These swords were heavy, rigid, making hard to balance yourself with it. He did a decent job, actually, but after twenty minutes he got tired. So I let him rest, and build us a fire and cook our canned soup, while I tried to get used to the weight change in my sword arm. The Bow wouldn't be too hard, the only difference was that I no longer had a wrist guard, and anything but my fingers to support the arrow.
The soup was finished cooking, it didn't take long and we shared the can with two spoons, because he failed to bring plates. We had bread with the soup too, to fill our stomach's for the next day's events. While we were talking, we heard a rumble of thunder outside, so we sank into the cave a little more to avoid any rogue lightening bolts. While we ate we discussed our back story, and our names. Our story was simple, travelers from a small nameless island off the coast of Sparta and Crete. Our vegetation was dying from lack of rain, and so our family set sail. During our sail to Argos, a storm had hit our boat and killed our family, and we managed to drift back to shore. For our names, Lake tried to convince me to call me some difficult greek name, but I told him no, I wanted a simple name, something short and easy to say - so I decided to call myself Kore. Though we debated quite a lot on what Lake's name should be. We decided on Arion, since it was simple, easy to pronounce and remember.
We also concluded, since we were in the movie, there was no need for the earpieces. However they were still good if we were separated, so we put them in the pouches in our belt for safe keeping.
Eventually we fell asleep on the uncomfortable floor, listening to the harsh rain and the angry crashes of thunder that was probably the wrath of Zeus himself. All I thought was maybe if I fell asleep here, I would wake up home, in my bed, wearing my Cherry pajamas, but images of the movie floated between my thoughts too, and I kept on straying to the scenes of what was going to happen, and what if we did change the course of the story. That would mean that I wouldn't be able to predict what was going to happen. Before I fell asleep, all I could play over in my head was Zeus, Hades, the Kraken, and Perseus, over and over again, until I dreamt about being an Amazon Princess, that went to Earth and joined a team called The Justice League. Oh wait...
I woke up early the next day, Lake was still passed out. I just couldn't sleep anymore... I must have only six hours of sleep, because when I went to the mouth of the cave, and sat down on its edge, with my feet dangling, the sun was barely peaking over the horizon. I didn't know the exact time in which Argos' Army came, but I didn't want to be in the middle of it. While I waited for Lake to wake up, I ate some dry cheerios, and took my hair out of its pony tail, and got to work on something more Greek appropriate.
I kept my bangs in place, seeing as I never liked my forehead, and left the two strands to frame my face. Since it was difficult to braid my hair without the help of a second person, I managed to do one small one to be wrapped around my head (vertically, so it was behind my ears), and one large one that was made to be on the side, so it rested on my left shoulder. It didn't really matter how appropriate my style was at this point, with my died hair, they would automatically assume that I wasn't human, or I was blessed by the Gods. It was just too red to be natural; my brother was smart not to mess with his normal brown hair. By the time I was finished, the sun was above the waters, and I can see as far as the horizon could take me.
That's when I saw it. A small boat, a fishing boat at that. It was time.
I woke Lake up and told him to get ready, because it was about to start. We packed the food and pillows and blankets that he had brought in a battery operating vacuum bag, and went to sit on the edge of the cave. I watched as the boat drew nearer, and knew that Perseus would be on that boat. After half an hour, we heard the sounds of many feet marching above us, and chants of men. We watched as they strapped Zeus' legs with rope and wood, and hammered away at his ankles.
As the boat drew nearer, the knot in my stomach grew tighter with anticipation. It wasn't like I enjoyed people dying, but the fact that I was in the movie, and I watching it unfold without 3D glasses, made it all the more exciting and frightful.
We heard a crack, and crumbles and we both knew that Argos' Army had successfully broken the Statue's heels. Lake's hand reached mine and he held it in a vice grip, watching the enormous body of stone crash into the water, causing a large splash to hit the small fishing boat.
"Okay, listen, Lake, this is when the Harpies come, be silent-" but he took off, too excited to even think logically. He shot down the pathway to the beach and right under the chaos. He cheered along with the victorious army, forcing me to follow him in hopes I can drag him into a corner. But by the time my feet jumped from rock to sand, the clouds began to gather up in greys and blacks until the sun was out of sight. The sea began to bubble, and soon after massive flying bat-like things shot from inside and started to attack all the soldiers.
"Lake, down!" I pulled him down into the sand and behind the rock when I saw one swoop closer.
Lake poked his head out from being buried in the sand, and his eyes widened, "Demi, look!" he pointed over to the sky. I moved my eyes to where he was pointing, and my mouth closed to tighten my jaw. The harpies smacked into each other one by one, forming a ball of black leathery wings. They spun around in smoke, ash, and amber until a single entity was in the sky with wings made out of black smoke, and eyes so icy that the colour could be notice from down here. It was Hades.
The screams of fright had increased, and Lake's grip on my arm tightened. But I was the only person to look up at the god in awe and admiration. It might have been because his face held the same resemblance of Ralph Fiennes in the movie, but there was just something about him that made him beautiful. So beautiful that it fogged up my mind, and I got up and crawled on the rock to get a better look at him.
He turned to the seas, and saw the fishing boat and didn't hesitate to shoot a ball of ash and fire at it. The boat broke in half, and flipped over the hull, taking down the family with it. But my eyes were no where near the boat, they were still stuck on Hades. And for a moment, just a moment, he turned in my direction and his eyes met my own. I tried not to blink, but I did, and he vanished.
Well! I hope you enjoyed it. I put A LOT of foreshadowing, and if you know your Greek Mythology, it would probably be obvious to you what I plan to do with Demi and Lake.
Happy Readings xoxox
qtj
