"Hey Caroline, what are you doing?" asked Kelly grabbing her backpack.
"Have you seen my bracelet?" Caroline asked as she was searching on her hands and knees in the grass. Kelly slung her backpack over her shoulders.
"Stand up." Kelly said reaching her hand out to Caroline. She grabbed her hand and pulled herself up. "What about my bracelet….."murmured Caroline. "Shhh…" said Kelly putting a finger on her lips. Kelly walked a few yards away from Caroline and raised her arms standing completely still.
"What are….?" asked Caroline. "Shh….," said Glenn approaching behind her "Just watch." Kelly's arms dropped. She walked a few yards away knelt down and picked up something off the ground and then jogged over to Caroline.
"Here you go." smiled Kelly as she opened up Caroline's hand.
"My bracelet," Caroline exclaimed clutching it in her hands. "Thank you!" "No problem." said Kelly. "Glenn! Are you guys ready over there?" yelled Aaron across the camp. "Yeah." Glenn waved back making his way over to where Aaron was. "Let's go." said Kelly adjusting her backpack straps. "Yeah." Caroline smiled back.
"So what's the plan Boss?" asked Glenn as Kelly and Caroline joined the group.
"Well when we were sleeping…" Aaron started to say. "Not all of us were sleeping." commented Katherine. "Ok…when I was sleeping Zeus came to me in a vision and…." continued Aaron.
"Wait! Zeus came to you?!" yelled Chris. "Yes….and the next person who interrupts me will get a blast of wind that will send them 10 feet in the air." said Aaron.
There was silence.
"As I was saying Zeus came to me in a vision and told me to go to Porcupine Mountain and we will find what we are searching for." repeated Aaron. "How come he didn't come to me? This must be a trick brother." said Chris. "Just because he didn't come to you doesn't mean it's not true. Aaron is the leader of the quest." replied Glenn.
Chris's face flushed with embarrassment. "But Father always comes to me as well!" yelled Chris.
Chris turned to Caroline and yelled "What do you think? Your Father's life is on the line!"
"Chris don't yell at her!" said Aaron. "I was just asking her opinion!" yelled Chris.
The sky started to crackle with thunder and the wind picked up. "Chris I'm getting really tired of this favorite son crap." Aaron yelled over the wind. "Well I'm getting tired of the crap from everyone about how we are so different and how you're such a great leader." Chris roared over the lightning cracking.
"Guys stop!" yelled Caroline. The wind whipped harder and the sky turned darker. "They can't hear you." Glenn said grabbing Caroline before she was picked up by the wind. "Yeah, but we better stop them." sighed Kelly.
Aaron and Chris both pulled out their swords. "Katherine! Kelly! Let's go!" yelled Glenn over the howling wind. Aaron charged at Chris followed by a small tornado and Chris started gathering electricity and ran towards Aaron. Glenn grabbed Aaron and pulled him to the ground causing the tornado to disappear, while Katherine changed her gauntlets into rubber boxing gloves and went to slug Chris in the face.
But before she could Chris threw a lightning bolt at Glenn and Aaron on the ground just as Katherine's fist made contact with his face. "Watch out!" screamed Caroline running to block Glenn and Aaron from the lightning bolt. Kelly stepped in front of her and got hit with the lightning. Kelly dropped to her knees.
"Kelly!" yelled Aaron and Chris pushing past Glenn and Katherine. Caroline grabbed Kelly by the shoulder and turned her around ready to try to heal her. "Kelly please don't die." said Caroline starting to cry.
Kelly laughed, "Caroline I'm fine." "What?" yelled Aaron and Chris kneeling down beside them. "I'm fine. Look." said Kelly pulling out a pad of burnt plant and rocks.
Caroline started sobbing.
Kelly sat up and said "Caroline I'm fine. Really." "I thought you were going to die." said Caroline through her sobbing. "And what was your plan?" asked Kelly. Caroline sobbed even more.
"This is stupid." said Chris getting up. He hit Kelly on the back on the head. "Ow! Chris!" said Kelly turning to look at him. "Don't you EVER do that again. Ok?" said Chris turning from Kelly. "Yeah, "said Aaron getting up and brushing off his pant turning from them, "Don't you ever do that again." Kelly looked back at both Chris and Aaron.
"Are you guys crying?" asked Kelly. "NO!" they both yelled. "Stop copying what I'm saying." said both Aaron and Chris turning to each other. Katherine walked by and punched them both in the face then proceeded to pick Kelly off the ground. Glenn kept staring at Caroline and saying, "So much water…."
Caroline stopped crying and said "Let's go we only have 17 days until the eclipse."
"Right" they all agreed. "But where is Porcupine Mountain?" asked Caroline. "Well let's see." said Glenn pulling out a map. "We are here in Ravensburg," he said pointing to the middle of Pennsylvania "And Porcupine Mountain is here," pointing to the tip of Wisconsin."That's about 900 miles away."
He looked up at Aaron looking for an answer. "We might need at ride." said Caroline. "Should I call the Gray Sisters?" asked Kelly. "No they only operate around the camp area. We need sometime else." said Aaron.
"I'm stating the obvious, but what about a car?" said Chris. "We don't have money for that." said Aaron. "Then let's just steal it. Apollo god of the sun is on the line. The mortals won't mind." said Chris with a devilish smile.
"Desperate times…." sighed Aaron. "Call for desperate measures." grinned Chris. "Alright let's go." said Aaron. "The nearest city is to our current location is Williamsport." said Glenn "Good enough. Let's go. We need to be there before dawn." said Aaron.
"But it's already 2:00 in the morning…." said Caroline. "Then we better be quick." smiled Aaron. They all started walking except for Caroline who was counting how long they had. Katherine turned around and began to drag her.
They walked all night and finally made it to Williamsport. "We have been walking for 6 hours. I need a break. Please." pleaded Caroline. "Yeah I'm tired too." said Kelly. "Yeah. Let's stop for now." said Aaron dropping his bag to the ground.
"I'm hungry," said Chris sitting down, "What about you Katherine?" he asked. "Ares's kids don't require food." replied Katherine. Katherine's stomach growled. Aaron chuckled. "Your stomach gave you away." he said.
"Speaking of being hungry, do any of you have money?" asked Glenn. Everyone shook their heads. "Well that's a problem." said Glenn grabbing his stomach. "Now what?" said Kelly. "I know!" exclaimed Caroline. She picked up her guitar case, walked a couple of feet away, and started playing her guitar and singing.
"That's not going to work….,"Chris said as he watched the people line up to here Caroline play. "What? That only works in movies!" yelled Chris. "Well she is a child of Apollo the god of the sun AND music." said Aaron. Chris shot him a sneer. "Well it does sound kind of enchanting." muttered Chris. "It does," replied Glenn looking over at Katherine, "Even children of Ares's can't resist." Katherine was swaying side to side, but stopped when Glenn mentioned her.
"And if it affects Katherine it might call unwanted guests." said Aaron scanning the area. "I do not feel any monsters on the ground." said Kelly. "Let's just rest and enjoy the sweet music." said Glenn taking a seat.
"I guess." said Aaron. Caroline returned around 20 minutes later with about 100 dollars. "Sorry I didn't mean to take so long it's just the music….and the people….." apologized Caroline.
"No you're fine we all needed a rest." replied Aaron. "Alright breakfast!" said Chris grabbing the money. Aaron grabbed it back and replied, "No…lunch and snacks for the road." He handed the money back to Caroline. "You and Kelly get snacks and lunch. We will get a car." Aaron ordered.
"Ok," said Caroline glancing at Kelly, "Where do you want to meet?" "Back here," Aaron glanced at his watch it was 11 am already, "At 12pm. Alright?" "Yeah" replied Caroline. "Alright let's move!" yelled Aaron.
The group split up and headed their own ways.
"Should I turn back and go with them? If they were to get attacked Kelly would have to defend herself and Caroline." asked Glenn. "They will be fine and Caroline is stronger than you think. She did step between us and Chris's lightening" replied Aaron. "And it would have killed her." mumbled Chris.
"Well anyways let's find a dealership." said Aaron looking around. The group started walking around looking for a dealership except Katherine who stopped in front of a biker bar. Katherine was eyeing a Ducati Diavel motorcycle. She looked at the group leaving her behind and decided to walk in the bar.
After a few minutes they found a dealership with the help of some locals.
"Ok here's the plan. Me and Glenn will distract the deals while Katherine and Chris hot wire and steal the car. Wait….where's Katherine?" said Aaron looking around. "Oh she walked into a biker bar a while back." replied Chris. "And you didn't stop her why?" replied Aaron angrily. "You want me to stop an Ares kid from walking into a biker bar? That's like their second home." replied Chris. "I guess….." replied Aaron. "We can just get her on the way back." said Glenn. "Alright. Let's go we only have 30 minutes until we are supposed to meet up." said Aaron.
Aaron and Glenn walked into the dealership while Chris walked around eyeing the cars. "Hello! My name is Robert Gerten. Are you interested in a Ford car?" said the dealer with a big smile. "Yes." replied Aaron. "Alright let's go outside and take a look then." said Robert opening the door. "No!" yelled Aaron. "No?" said Robert looking confused. "What he means is that we would look at your payment plans first because we are still in college." said Glenn stepping forward. "Oh! Of course! Right this way gentlemen." replied Robert.
Thank you Aaron mouthed to Glenn as they followed Robert. Glenn smiled back. Meanwhile Chris was carefully scanning cars. There was a neon green Ford Fiesta Titanium parked near the dealership building and Chris knew that was the one.
He looked up and counted the cameras. There were 10 camera total. Chris snapped his fingers freezing the cameras at the image they had. He slowly walked over to the car.
"Sir! Do you need help with something?" said a man approaching him. Chris cursed under his breath. "Yes how much is this one?" he asked. "Oh, this is our new Ford Fiesta Tiranium starting at $18,200." replied the dealer.
"Really? Thanks for the help." said Chris gently placing his hand on the man's back and sending a little electricity up his spine. The man stepped back and looked up, "What….what was I doing?" the man asked Chris. "You were getting me the keys to this car. I just leased it for 2 years." replied Chris with a smile. "Yes…..now I remember! Be right back sir." said the man hurrying back to the dealership.
"That was close." said Aaron. "Yeah it was." said Chris leaning back on the car. "Wait! This car only has 5 seats. There are 6 of us." said Aaron counting the seats. "Well you can fly." said Chris. "Chris….." Aaron started to say but was interrupted by the man walking back to give Chris the keys.
"Thank you so much for your purchase." said the man handing him the keys. "Yeah thanks." said Chris getting in the car. Aaron and Glenn also got in the car though Aaron wasn't too happy and Chris drove away.
Caroline and Kelly had just purchased the food and were carrying the bags back the meet up point. "So we got sandwiches for lunch, beef jerky, peanut butter, raisins, some cracker packs, mixed nuts packs, and pretzels for snacks. And we still have $40 left." said Caroline. "Yeah, we did good. Put the rest on the money in a safe place in your bag." said Kelly putting the snacks in her bag.
"What did you pack for the quest?" asked Caroline as they continued to walk. "The essentials…..a canteen of nectar, a tin of ambrosia for emergencies, a canteen for water, my chakarm and plant seeds," said Kelly.
"What about you?" "Well this is my first quest, so my brothers and sisters helped me. I packed canteen of nectar, a tin of ambrosia, a note pad and pencil, my bow, a map, and spare clothes. I had to pack everything they gave me in my guitar case. It almost didn't close."
"Why the note pad and pencil?" asked Kelly sitting down on the sidewalk. Caroline went and sat down beside her and said, "Well you have the seeds for your plants and I have the note pad for my songs."
"Oh. Cool." replied Kelly. "It may not be essential for you but it is for me." replied Caroline looking down the road for the others. Kelly got up and said "Here they come." "Right on time." said Caroline looking at her watch.
Chris pulled over to the curb and asked, "Hey there babes. You need a ride?" Kelly looked to see Aaron and Glenn sitting in the back seat. "Where's Katherine?" she asked. "Crap! Get in! We got to get her from the biker bar!" said Chris.
They heard the sounds of motorcycles riding down the road and Katherine was leading the pack. "What?" said Aaron getting out of the car. There had to have been at least 40 of them.
Katherine pulled off by the car and so did the rest of the bikers. Aaron grabbed has necklace and Chris and Glenn stepped out of the car. "I'm leaving you guys now. I still have things to do with them." said Katherine to the bikers. "We will follow you anywhere." said one biker and the others agreed. "This is not a quest for mortals." said Katherine.
"Katherine!" whispered Aaron. "Alright but if you ever need us we will be there." said the head biker taking off. After they had all left Aaron asked, "What happened?" Katherine began to explain how she saw a Ducati Diavel motorcycle and wanted it. So she challenged the man who owned it to a fight and the winner gets the bike. It turned out the man was a leader of a biker gang and was reputed to be able to kill a man with just one punch. They fought and Katherine crushed him in 2 minutes.
The rest of the gang started to get angry, so she challenged them too. Most declined, but a few went at her head on. She crushed them in 7 minutes much to her disappointment because she considered that slow.
They made her the new leader and followed her back to the meet up place where everyone was. By the end of the story everyone's jaws had dropped, but Aaron was the first to regain composure. "Well…ok at least that solves the car problem." Aaron said clearing his throat.
"We need to go. It's already noon and we have a 16 hour drive ahead of us." said Chris getting in the car. "Right. Let's go." said Aaron getting in the back. Caroline got in the front, Kelly in the middle of the back, and Glenn on the right side. Katherine started her motorcycle and started driving. Chris followed her.