A/N: So. As I could tell from the lack-there-of reviews, I guess ya'll didn't like it. Maybe you did, and just didn't review. Should I bring back author's notes full of Sanity and Insanity? Hmmmm. Food for thought. So, time for the disclaimer.
Me: Welcome back, guys. Another chapter in Three Z's and a Satyr-
Zirk: You do realize that's a crappy title, right?
Me: Shut up, Zirklyn! Yes, I realize that! I couldn't think of anything else!
Zirk: It's ZIRK! Z-I-R-K! ZIRK!
Zeph: Zirk, calm down.
Zirk: Zephanie, butt out!
Zeph: Well, fine then...Zirklyn.
Zirk: UGHH! Why do you people pick on me?
Zemb: Because it's way easy to do.
Zirk: Back off, Sea Girl!
Zemb: You first, Queen Death!
Zirk: Grrr...don't make me, Zember.
Zena: Make you do what? This? *raises hands, and lightning shoots from no-where, hitting Zirk*
Zirk: Ow! No, I was thinking more like this. *does Super Howl, making everything go chaotic and brake*
Me: Hello! My HQ we're destroying!
Zeph: *takes out magical pipes, and plays* *tree roots grow from the cracks in the floor, and head for Zirk.*
Me: Hmmm...I really should stop this before it gets out of hand, shouldn't I?
Sanity: It would be a rather wise idea, Mistress.
Me: Okay, okay. While I'm doing that, do the disclaimer.
Sanity: Yes, Mistress. *nods* Future owns nothing but her Mad-Scientist creations, or OC's as you all call them. She does not have the rights to PJO, like we all wish we had. On with the story.
It took them a little under twelve minutes to walk to Dark Night's Fall. It was a beautiful place, but it was also creepy at the same time. Large, dark oaks grew to the sky, with winding tree roots growing here and there in several different places. Some were twisted around each other, and some wrapped like bows on top of gifts. The animals were the least of their worries, because it was mainly snails and spiders. They only worried about tripping.
"Check that out!" Zena pointed at a rare sight -a deer. The girls stopped and stared in awe at the creature. It hopped away into the woods.
"Well." Zember sighed. "That was random."
"It's cool to be random, Zemb." Zirk nudged her shoulder playfully. "Why do you think I'm named Zirklyn?"
"It fits you," Zephanie said, swinging a twig back and forth out of bordom. They loved to come here, it was the walk they couldn't stand.
"Have you ever wondered why all of our names start with 'Z'?" Zemb asked, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Several times," Zeph replied, bending down to pick up a rock. "I could never figure it out."
"It just adds to our weirdness." Zirk said, smiling, using her hand to gesture to everyone.
"That we do have." Zena laughed, and the rest did too. Zember tossed her rubber ball in the air, catching it on cue.
"But, it's really complex when you think about it. I mean, what are the odds that four girls, who's names all start with 'Z', end up best friends in New York?"
"About one in a million." Zena said.
"Or stuff just happens. Coincidence upon coincidence." Zirk started to kick pinecones around.
"So, us meeting was coincidence, and there's no bigger meaning to it?" Zeph asked.
"That's what she said." Zirk smirked.
"I think there's a bigger meaning," Zember said, thinking hard. "There's a bigger meaning to everything. There's a reason for everything. Thing's just don't happen because of coincidence, or accidently. Things are planned. There's a destiny for everything, and everything has a destiny."
"You think too hard, Zemb. Just go with le flow."
"It's hard to go with something that's not there."
"Imagine it. Zember, I've seen you draw. That's more than enough imagination for you to make-believe something."
"Fine...oh, look! We've finally made it. Thank God." Zember sat down on the ledge, dangling her feet, staring out into the open darkness. It was spectacular. Zirk sat beside her, followed by Zeph and Zena.
"I've always loved this," Zena murmured.
"Do you guys smell something...funny?" Zephanie asked, looking around. Zember sniffed.
"I can't smell anything."
"Me neither," Zirk added.
"Or me. Unless you mean the storm that's coming."
"It's not that...more like rancid breath and rotten meat...wet wool, maybe?"
Zirk blew in her hand and smelled her breath. "Not me." She said, then took a whiff of her clothes. "I mean, I smell pretty bad, but that's just from sweat. Nothing rancid or rotten meat-y on my side of town. Zember?"
She smelled. "Not me, either. Zena?"
She repeated the act. "Not-"
"I get it." Zephanie insisted. "Something just smells wrong."
"Nothing's wrong, Zeph." Zena said, looking down the cliff. "Ya know, sometimes I feel like I'm being watched. Like, from below?"
"Me too." Zirk said, looking down with her.
"I sometimes have dreams of this weird man, with a trident, and me, breathing underwater. And then there's these huge hands that pull me down and down and down until I'm in pure darkness. It's like a living heck, you know? And it's all so real, that when I wake up, I pinch myself just to be sure." Zember.
"Snap." Zena said, looking at her now.
"That's some deep stuff, Zemb. Deep, dark, evil stuff." Zirk said. "Sometimes I think monsters are re-" she never finished her sentence. Just then, a great rumbling noise made the girls jump to their feet.
"Zirk," Zember whispered. "Please tell me that was your stomach."
"Not this time...not this time." Zirk's eyes were wide as saucers.
"Please. Someone please tell me they see that," Zena's voice was shaky, which was a first, as she pointed. They all saw it.
"Uh-huh." They muttered, huddling together.
Coming through the forest was six of the ugliest looking creatures they'd ever seen -not even their dreams were like this. Two were cyclopes, three were dracne, and one was a hydra.
"Slap me!" Zirk hollered, grabbing Zember by the shoulders. "Slap me, pinch me, bite me! WAKE ME UP!"
"I don't think this is a dream." Zena said, and the girls watched as their leader started to shake.
"Well, lookey here. We found just the somebody'ssssss we were looking for." one dracne hissed.
"Yessssss, it ssssure doesssss appear that way!" a second one cackled with snake-like laughter.
"When might we devour them, missssstresssssss?" the third smiled hungrily, licking her lips excitedly.
"Sssssoon, my dearssssss. Very ssssoon." #1 said, looking at her proteges.
"I personally just want to smash them like lord Kronos instructed." a cyclops swung his humongus club around, hitting a tree, and knocking it over.
"Me too." Another added.
"Me's is three," the third was, as you can tell, stupid. Not very grammatical in any way, form, or fashion.
"Wha-wha-what do we d-d-d-do?" Zember stuttered.
"Fight?" Zirk asked, already searching for a large peice of wood. "It's pretty much our only option."
"Or run." Zena pointed out. "But fighting sounds fun!" She was using a dangerous amount of sarcasm.
Zephanie turned to Zember, and handed her a limb. "Don't stand down, okay?"
"Me? Never." Zephanie rolled her eyes at Zemb's comment, then picked up her own stick.
"Man, don't we stand a good chance?" Zena asked. "Four girls againt five monsters. This is completelyfair." Zena enjoyed sarcasm about as much as she enjoyed adventure. A lot. She held up her stick in a fighting stance, her eyes turning blood thirsty. "What're we waiting for?" She asked, looking at everybody.
"Yeah. Let's do this."
"Bring it on, children. Daughtersssss of the Big Three." Dracnae 1 stated.
"You say what now?" Zirk asked. "What the heck does that mean?"
"Ssssso naive, you are. My dear, Zirklyn is it? Oh, if only you knew your own powersssss."
"If only your butt met my stick." She snarled back.
"Haha!" the third cyclops stated happily. "She got punny stick, we got awesome club-es. We beat heads now?" He looked up at cyclops 1, who nodded. "Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray! Me bash heads! Let us do so now!" He ran towards the girls, and a new instinct kicked in that they had never experienced before. The cyclops tried to ram Zirk's head in, but she parried easily, and used a round-house kick to his chest. Her gut twisted, and she did something out of instinct. She howled, a strong, loud, howl, that caused the ground to break. The cyclops fell thorugh a crack.
"Where in the Sam-Heck did that come from?" She questioned aloud, but kept going with the flow.
A dracnae headed towards Zember just as it started to rain. In an instant, Zember had managed to knock the dracnae to the ground, with something floating in her hands...
"Water? No. Hackin'. Way." She looked at the stream of water levitating in her hands, and at the dracnae on the ground. "What in the freak is going on?" She didn't let that stop her though, and went right back to fighting as the second cyclops approached her, his club perched above his head. "Let's see what this can do." She grinned evily, and her gut twisted. She flung water at the cyclops, and then in one swift motion made it freeze, then un-freeze, and made the water spout into the air -cyclops and all. It came back to the ground with a sickening thud, and then turned into wet clay. "Sweet." Zember looked around, then headed to help Zirk and Zena, who were fighting the hydra.
Zena's battle had happened moment earlier, and it was with the last two dracnae. "You want some of this?" Zena hissed, and lightning crackled when she did.
"You are not sssso sssstrong, Zena Forten."
"Oh, yeah?" A gut feeling hit her as she said this. "You ain't seen nothin' yet." She raised her hands, and lightning stroke down, vaporizing the two dracnae instantly. She looked across the battlefield, and then headed to help Zirk in the fight with the hydra.
Zephanie held her stick for her life, and started to battle the last standing cyclops. He laughed menacingly. "Who would'a thought that a satyr would be brave enough to do this?"
"A what?" Zeph asked, not taking her eyes off the monstrosity.
"Satyr, numb-nuts. What you are. Those punny little horns, limpy, hairy legs, and of course those hooves."
"How did you know about my condition?" She snarled, ready to rip this...this...thing's throat out.
"How could you not? Bet your friends don't know. You're ashamed. You've always been, Zephan-" he was cut short as she lunged, stabbing him in the heart with the stick. He turned into clay, and Zeph looked up. She saw her firends battling a creature with some...snake-looking head-things on its body, which looked like a giant lizard. She storde-ran over to them, joining in their back-to-back fight.
"So, any revilations?" Zemb asked, her back to Zirk's.
"Apparently I can control lightning." Zena said, her back to Zeph's.
"I've got water." Zemb said.
"Death howl." Everyone glanced at Zirk for a mere second, then returned their attention back to the hydra.
"And I'm a satyr." Zeph didn't know exactly what that was, but it didn't sound good. Or really bad. Just...even. Almost normal.
"Okay," Zember was trying to reason this out. "We're twelve. Does anyone remember anything from world history? Any kind of something relating to thie monster?" They thought for a second.
"I've got it," Zena said finally. "The Hydra. Only way of death: burn all the heads off at once."
"Which, we can safely say, is IMPOSSIBLE!" Zirk shouted, drawing one head's attention.
"Oh, and another thing," Zena pushed them all into the ground as the middle head spewed fire. "It breathes fire."
"So, let me get this straight." Zephanie held up her hands in a 'time-out' mannor. "We have to destroy it by using something it can breathe?"
"Exactly!" Zember said. "I've got a plan guys. It's simple physics. All we have to do is get a reflection. Then, we can make the middle head shoot at it, thinking it's us. By making several more reflections, we can recachete the fire unto all heads at once. It's fool-proof." It worked, too. Zember used the rain water to form ice-mirrors, which they then calculated into each place at just the correct angle. They reflected one of theirselves, and then had the mirrors bounce the fire. In moments, the hydra was killed.
"Well," Zirk dusted off her hands. "Wasn't that somethin'?"
"Yeah. Can we go home now? I'm beat." Zena did look tired. "Especially after that lightning trick I did."
"Can we crash at your place?" Zeph asked, her limp now where you could see it. "Please?"
"Sure," Zena sighed, rubbing her temples. "No prob. Let's go." The girls made the slow walk home, or, to Zena's home that is. When they got there, Mrs. Forten, or Ruby, was worried sick. She looked them up and down, then reluctantly agreed to them staying.
"Thanks, Ms. F." Zirk said, kicking off her shoes. This was something she did all the time, and Ruby was used to it.
"Yeah, thanks, Ms. Forten," Zember said, taking her sneakers off by the door carefully.
"Thank you very much, Ms. Ruby." Zephanie had called Ruby Ms. Ruby since she was a baby, and didn't plan to change it now. They trudged up the stairs, stopping by Zena's adopted brother's room.
"'Sup, Glen." Zirk said, doing a weak fist pound with him.
"Hey, Glen," Zember waved.
"Hiya, Glen." Zeph blushed a little. She found Glen to be charming in all sorts of ways.
"Goodnight, Bud." Zena said, walking on to her room. The rest of them followed, fallign asleep instantly in her room. At least, for thirty minutes that is.
