Chapter 1
It's now 2006 AD.
It's been 1927 years since Milo died. The world has changed, but I have not forgotten.
"Phoenix!" Called Marina, noticing that I was yet to wake up. Yes two of us changed our names. Latin names tend to stand out...
Aquaria became Marina.
And Ignatia gave way to Phoenix.
"Was it the same dream?" My sister's asked, all three of them crowding into the room I share with Marina.
"It's that day." I mummer, before shooing all of them out, I needed time to myself.
I sunk to the floor, back against the door. This is the only day I allow myself to cry on.
"Sis, we have to get to school." Olive said from the other side of the door. I tapped back, to let her know that I was moving.
Changing out of my Pjs, I threw on a grey long sleeved top and a black t-shirt, black jeans and my black military boots. Looking in the mirror, it was nearly impossible to tell that I'd had long hair in the past. After the treaty of Versailles was signed, I'd cut it as an act of rebellion. Not bothering with makeup, I grabbed my lunch and walked out of the apartment.
Today was not a day to mess with me. Even Apollo and Hermes steered clear of me on this day. It just wasn't worth it.
LIFE wasn't worth it.
When I arrived at school, everyone in the halls, took notice of me. I usually wore bright, vibrant colours and arrived with my sisters.
"So, you have a break up?" One of the idiots from my year group asked. Sending a quick prayer to Cousin Athena, asking for guidance, I knew exactly what she'd do in this situation.
Make an example of him.
"You have NO idea what the date means to me!" I yell, spinning around and pinning him against the lockers. I was shorter than him, but I had far more experience.
"Miss Clayson!" Cane a voice from behind me.
Great, GROVER had seen me and when to find Chiron.
"Yes?" I asked, dropping the kid and walking over to them.
"Calm child. I know what this date means to you, but you must not show it." Chiron said, as if he was lecturing a far younger me, after I had stolen Apollo's bow, Ares' spear and Athena's shield.
"Please tell me that you're not pulling me from the museum trip!" I asked, hoping that small lapse of concentration wouldn't have me punished.
"Nothing of the such." He said, smiling in his wheelchair as he leaned closer, "I'll need all four of you to keep Ms Dodds inline." He added. Chiron, or Mr Brunner, as he was now, was always able to talk his way out of any situation, even calm people down. At least he wasn't punishing me like he used to.
Homeroom was over quickly and before I knew it, we were being loaded onto the buses. Sneaking a look at Grover, I noticed that he was with his friend Percy Jackson. Just looking at him reminded me of Marina. He HAD to be a Demi-god. And he would be an incredibly powerful one too...
Marina sat down next to me, and the look on her face showed that she was thinking along the same lines as me.
"He has to be one of dad's." She muttered in Ancient Greek. All of us could speak it, but she had used it (As I had found out later) to alert Chiron and Grover about the kid.
"Yeah and he radiates power." Olive agreed, also using Greek. If anything, we only took Greek and Latin for practical purposes. And because the four of us were soo competitive, there were no assessments or ranks. The bus wove its way through the New York traffic, as a litter or carriage may have done in the past. I tried to ignore the stupidity that was happening down the front of the bus, and remembered happier times. But they weren't going to come back to me.
"Nix, you okay?" Aurora asked, leaning over the back of the seat in front of me, trying to knock me out of my daze. Somehow, we were already at the museum.
"As fine as I'll ever be." I replied, striding off the bus. As an added bonus, it was a Friday. Meaning that we had to go to Olympus after school. Today of all days, it would not be fun...
My three sisters were concerned for me, all of them had voiced it, and no matter how sweet it was, it was starting to get annoying...
Walking around the museum, we laughed at some of the epigraphs carved into Steles. From memory, Olive had carved one of them to spite the person.
Ah, the joys of being able to read Ancient Greek...
It was quite funny to see our uncles (or father's, in Marina's case) likeness carved into marble, especially since Poseidon's nose had fallen off and Zeus looked like a hippie.
But it was lunch time when things started to go wrong. And Marina felt it first.
A 'wave' of anger rushing through her. And we all knew who it was.
Jackson.
Dropping our lunches, we ran to where he was. All of us had pulled out various pens, or hair pins in Aurora's case and hoped on the river Styx, that we weren't too late. Needless to say, I'd been right all along, saying that Ms Dodds was a fury.
"Alecto!" I yell, clicking one pen and uncapping another. They had transformed into a Celestial Bronze sword and the other a dagger, respectively. If it had been any other day, I would've called up my fire, but I'd learnt from past experiences that wasn't such a good idea...
(Again, I apologise to anyone who was in London 1666.)
The Fury turned its attention from Jackson, giving us enough time to cover him. Aurora had already created a wind that had forced the daemon back, Olive had her own sword ready as was Marina's (Which was glowing blue, as a joke she had recently [in the past 90 years] called it Sting.) in the other hand, was a sword which caught my eye.
She had Riptide out.
The sword that we had guarded for centuries, now about to be passed onto the next generation of heroes.
Now there was a son of Poseidon. Just as the prophecy had said there would be.
Things were about to happen.
"Percy!" Marina called, throwing him the sword. It must come naturally to Demi-gods, swinging a sword, because he managed to smite Alecto in a few seconds.
"What was that thing?" He asked, looking up at all of us. Olive, Marina and Aurora were looking at him like older sisters, I held back, the last time I was involved with heroes, a region in Italy paid the price. Keeping my face emotionless, something I had learnt from a certain hunter of Artemis, I walked away.
"What thing?" Aurora asked, grabbing out her water bottle.
"Percy, you fainted." Olive said, smiling a bit.
"We should get you to a hospital, you might have a concussion." Marina added, helping him to his feet. I knew that the Mist would be working overtime to try and cover this up.
"Ms Dodds turned into a bat!" The kid yelled, waving Riptide around, the sword now back in pen form.
"Who's Ms Dodds?" Olive asked, trying to help the Mist.
"I know what I saw!" Percy yelled as Grover came into the room, finally he had smelt the Fury.
"Grover!" Percy yelled as he ran to his friend, totally forgetting that we were there. As we quietly slipped out the side door, I frowned at the consequences of Percy's being. It would not be good. And if Uncle Hades was willing to send out one of his Furies to kill the kid, Jackson could end up being the next Thalia.
"Girls." Chiron called, noticing that we were about to leave. "Go home and tell you parents what you have seen here." He said, quietly, looking poignantly at me, as if he knew the pain I was going through. I nearly always refused to be part of quests and the camps now. Purely of what had happened in 79AD.
"We will." Olive said, as we hailed a cab to take us to the Empire State.
The council was going to be absolutely proud of us...
"We need the key to the 600th floor." Aurora demanded, every bit the daughter of Zeus she was. Some think of the wind as a bit of a pushover. But wind has the power to kill, just like all the other elements. And it can make a slow and antagonising wait for death to finally come and claim you for his own.
"Kid, there is no-" the guard said, looking up from his book, rolling his eyes slightly.
"Give me the key card, Okay? My father is Zeus!" She exclaimed, calling a wind to her, and using it as an extension of her arm to grab the key card.
"I'm sorry-" The guard managed to say before we stormed towards the elevator. I just hoped that Apollo wasn't playing music from the classical period. The last time that happened, the god lost all his hair, which had seriously upset him.
I really didn't need anyone's apologies, for anything. And I really didn't have time for them either.
But one thing was for sure, I was an element hell bent on avenging Milo's death.
Or bringing him back from the dead, whichever comes first.