Howdy folks! Welcome to the third installment of RID! It's been awhile, so I hope it was worth the wait!
As always, I'd like to thank all my astoundingly awesome reviewers and the people who alerted and favorited this story! It means a lot guys.
I'd also like to thank tininiatt who is awesomely divine for betaing for me!
I DO NOT own 'Class of the Titans' so keep the suits away please. Okay, now WHY are they called suits? It's not like only lawyers wear suits! I mean there are oth- OH. Sorry. You're here for the story, not my insane ramblings.
Well enjoy it then folks!
The early morning air was reverently silent. Fresh breaths of air were slowly waking Jay up properly as he walked toward the kitchen. He walked without stumbling, since his feet knew the way so well. This was all part of his morning routine: wake up early, drink his first glass of orange juice then get an early session of strategic planning out of the way.
"Check mate!" a familiar voice suddenly cried out from the living room.
"Aw man! That was the fourth time in a row."
Jay walked into the living room to find Odie and Gareth locked in a heated match of chess. Both were sitting on the floor with equally messy hair; a feat which was all the more extraordinary for Gareth when compared to Odie's Afro.
"Morning Jay," Gareth said brightly when he noticed his leader in the doorway.
"Morning," Jay said while looking at them blearily. "What are you two doing up so early?"
"Couldn't sleep," Gareth replied. "Did you know it's snowing?" he asked with an ever growing smile.
Jay looked out the nearest window and, sure enough, tiny flakes of crystallized water were drifting gently toward earth. Every single patch of ground was covered in white.
"Isn't it great?" Gareth asked excitedly. "I've never seen snow before."
Jay chuckled. "It's not so great when you slip in it. It'd be a lot more fun if it wasn't so wet either."
Gareth's smile didn't waver a bit and he just continued placing his pieces back on the chess board. "Hey, wanna play against the winner?" he asked.
For a moment Jay hesitated. His mind was locked firmly on the stack of charts and mythology books he had propped on his desk upstairs. The pleading look on Gareth's face, however, could not be denied. Jay wondered if this was how little brothers behaved. Gareth sure as heck felt like one.
"Oh all right. Why not?" he said with a smile and joined the two.
The rest of the early morning was spent with Odie taking turns to play against Jay and Gareth. He was the undefeated master of the chess board and the only one who seemed to give him any pause was Jay, who seemed to take a lot of time to plan every single move. In the end Odie took pity on them and allowed Jay to play a match against Gareth.
What followed was a feverish battle of wits that ended in a dramatic stalemate involving two pawns, a well placed rook and one unfortunately manoeuvred knight.
Slowly the rest of the Brownstone came to life. Athena appeared in the kitchen when the first bit of light sparkled in the windows. She pulled open the curtains and popped her head into the living room.
"Who left the upstairs window open?" she asked sternly.
The three boys shrugged in unison.
"Please make sure that all the windows and doors are locked before you go to bed. I don't want you all to freeze to death." And without further ado she pulled back into the kitchen.
Upstairs a door slammed and a shower curtain was pulled.
"That'll be Neil," Odie said to Gareth. "I bet it takes less than five minutes for Theresa to start banging on the door."
The two of them started another game of chess while Jay opted to give Gareth a stream of well meant pointers. Half an hour passed and the bathroom door opened and closed several times. Jay frowned and looked up at the ceiling.
"Funny… that's the first time in- I don't know how long, that there hasn't been a fight over Neil hogging the bathroom."
"Miracles happen," Odie said blandly as he knocked one of Gareth's rooks from the chess board. "He must still be busy with his pre-shower beauty routine." All three of the boys sniggered.
In the kitchen they could hear a pan being placed on the stove and seconds later the scintillating sizzle of frying sausages was to be heard. The delicious scent of food wafted into the living room and played devilish tricks on the boys' sense of smell. They quickly headed for the kitchen where they were joined by Theresa, Atlanta, Herry and a thoroughly grumpy looking Archie. The clang of plates and gentle passing of banter was the order of the day.
"Where is Neil?" Athena suddenly asked in a sharp voice. She didn't wait for a reply but turned her face up to the ceiling. "Neil! Drop whatever you're doing and come get your breakfast. Now!"
A loud thud emanated from upstairs and the familiar whine of Neil's voice carried down the stairs. He was evidently not in the best of moods.
Moments later he caused a small uproar when he stumbled into the kitchen. Eight pairs of eyes widened as they fell on his haggard appearance. Neil was still in his pyjamas and his hair was standing in every direction but down. Tiny half moons of purple touched his eyelids, which were drooping slightly and his skin seemed pale and clammy. He plopped himself down on one of the kitchen chairs.
"Are you… okay, Neil?" Theresa asked uncertainly.
Neil seemed to take ages to respond. "I'm fine," he sighed and reached for a box of cereal.
"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Athena asked. "Maybe you should go back to bed."
Neil only grunted in recognition as he grabbed a bottle of fruit juice and promptly started to pour it onto his cereal. He placed the bottle back on the table, gave something between a snore and a growl and fell face first into his bowl of juiced cereal.
Athena's eyes widened in horror, "Somebody pick him up before he drowns!"
Herry grabbed Neil by the scruff of his neck and lifted him from the chair.
"Get back to bed this instant, Neil," Athena ordered. "You're obviously coming down with something."
In the end Herry was forced to help Neil back to his room since he stumbled over to the back door instead of the stairs. He kept mumbling unintelligibly as they disappeared up the stairs.
"What was that?" Archie asked after a moment of silence.
"I don't know," Theresa said. "But it's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. He didn't even look at his reflection in the spoon! He always does that."
A very confused looking Herry walked back into the kitchen. "Maybe we should take Neil to Chiron, Ms Athena. He tried to go to sleep in the shower…"
After an hour of apocalyptic tantrums, most from Neil and Athena, the teens were finally free to leave the Brownstone. And it wasn't a moment too soon, for they were certainly being driven out of their minds by Neil's hysteric shouts about the bags forming under his eyes. Especially since this was interspersed with him falling asleep in the middle of sentences and Athena's increasingly angry grunts of annoyance. In the end Athena had concluded that Neil was simply suffering from extreme exhaustion and that he'd best be left alone.
The titans' spirits were instantly lifted when they walked out the front door. After all, who could stop themselves from smiling when faced with a hyperactive seventeen year old jumping in the snow? Indeed, Gareth was so excited at being able to see and touch snow for the first time that he seemed to be positively giddy. He didn't even seem upset when he managed fall over his own feet in spectacular fashion.
Thus they were all in high spirits when they walked through the portal to the Titan wing. Their happiness was seemingly infectious for Apollo, with a magnificently large grin on his face, stampeded in their direction the moment he saw them.
"Hello!" he exclaimed in his overly accentuated Italian voice and took hold of Gareth's arm. "It's good to see you Gareth. Come to my studio. We have a lot of training ahead of us."
Gareth couldn't find a gap to protest for Apollo kept up an ongoing stream of commentary as he dragged Gareth behind him.
"But Pan's my mentor!" Gareth finally managed to say. "He's waiting for me."
Apollo's face fell slightly and for a moment he looked positively livid, but he almost immediately regained his composure and resumed his journey to his studio.
"Nonsense! Hera knows that I am most fit to be your mentor. Pan must have misunderstood Hera when they spoke the other day…"
Gareth couldn't get his arm loose from Apollo's grip and finally had to resign himself to being dragged through the Titan wing.
"Hey there little dude!" a familiarly laid back voice suddenly said. Both Apollo and Gareth froze and looked as Pan sauntered in their direction. "Sorry I nearly missed you buddy. My place is this way," he said while pointing in the direction opposite that in which Apollo was pulling Gareth.
"Don't worry about it," Apollo said while straining to pull Gareth after him. "I'll take care of the boy."
Pan looked slightly annoyed. "For the last time, Apollo, Gareth is my student. Hera asked me to teach him. Now can you stop dragging him around, please?"
Apollo froze in his tracks once more. His rounded belly positively quivered in indignation. "I am the true master of music!" he said, his last word making him sound like a cow with his overtly expressed Italian voice. "Hera can't possibly be right. It is too important a task to entrust to you."
"I can connect with him. We have a lot more in common. So stop ignoring Hera's orders and let go of my student!" Pan was evidently trying to do his best to keep his voice steady.
Apollo's eyes flashed with searing rage. He did not like being ordered around. "Who are you to tell me what to do? I am the best man for the job! You are nothing more than a goat with-"
Pan's posture stiffened so suddenly that even Apollo was taken off guard. 'Goat' was quite obviously a rather dangerous word to mention around him.
"I don't think that an overweight, wannabe god who couldn't be any Euro-trashier if he tried can tell me anything about being the best man for the job!" Pan's eyes seemed quite capable of gouging chunks of flesh from Apollo at that moment.
Jay cleared his throat nervously. "Uhm… we'll be going now," he said.
The quarrelling gods ignored him and continued their verbal fight. Gareth, who was still being clutched firmly by Apollo, gave his fleeing friends a pleading glance. They shot him a grouped smile of guilt before scampering off to their own mentors. Gareth suddenly wished that he was back in the Brownstone with Neil wailing in his ears.
The sky was stained with shards of crimson and gold as she limped onto the nearly abandoned airfield. Nighttime was fast approaching and she had to get to her destination before then. Her very existence depended on it. They'd catch up with her if she was too slow.
In the distance she saw a small aircraft being prepared for take-off. So far, luck was on her side and she quickly hobbled over to it. To avoid being seen she crouched behind one of the aircraft's large wheels; cringing in pain as she did so. Precious minutes passed as she waited for the fuel truck to dislodge and roll away on the dusty tarmac. The sky was now turning an angry shade of blue. Her time was almost up.
The field attendant turned his back and she seized her chance. As quietly as possible she hobbled over to the far side of the aircraft and pulled herself up the tiny steps. She stumbled to the far side of the cabin and hid behind one of the seats. Another few of her remaining precious minutes ticked away as she waited. Through the tiny window above her she could see the first star twinkling like a beacon of doom.
The sound of the cabin door closing caught her attention. Moments later a man in a blue uniform walked by and disappeared through the door that led to the cockpit. The heavy whine of the aircraft's engines started up a few minutes later.
Knowing that there was no possible way to stop her now she crept from her hiding place and headed for the tiny kitchen at the back of the plane. Quietly she pulled open all the cabinets till she found what she was looking for. Then she moved back down the isle towards the cockpit.
"Tango five-seven-eight you are cleared for take-off; unrestricted climb to altitude of thirty-thousand feet," a monotonous voice droned in the cabin.
"Roger that, command tower," the pilot responded.
The plane slowly turned and started moving down the runway. Without a second's hesitation she stormed forward and shoved the blade to his throat. The pilot gasped in shock and pulled so hard on the steering mechanism that the aircraft veered slightly to the left.
"Keep us moving," the woman ordered.
"Tango five-seven-eight, you have veered slightly off course. What's your status?" the monotonous voice from the command tower inquired.
"Tell him nothing!" she hissed. She removed a piece of paper from her pocket and dropped it on his lap. "You have a new destination. You will take me here," she commanded while pointing at the words on the paper.
The pilot held his hand over the microphone. "Lady, you don't have to do this. You-"
A strangled yelp escaped his lips as she pressed the blade harder against his throat. A single tear of blood slipped from the tiny cut she made. She sniffed the air and licked her lips hungrily.
"I will kill you if you don't take me where I want to go."
"But lady, Canada is too far off my flight plan! How do I explain this to the command tower?"
"You'll think of something," she said and pressed the blade a little harder to emphasize her threat.
The pilot swallowed hard and, after a moment's hesitation, took his hand from the microphone. "Command tower, this is Tango five-seven-eight. I've just received new coordinates from home base."
"Roger that Tango five-seven-eight. What's your destination?"
The pilot glanced at her with wide eyes before speaking, "New Olympia, Canada."
Sybaris smiled evilly.
Steely eyes looked into brown as their silent duel continued. Hera had her seemingly delicate hands intertwined as she leaned forward with her chin resting on them. Her poker face was as devoid of emotion as ever.
"Your move, Jay," she said.
Jay looked down at the chess board in front of him. He marveled at how different this particular match was when compared to the ones he had played with Odie and Gareth that morning. He knew that it shouldn't surprise him. It was the same with combat training, after all. There was always so much more at stake with the real thing... Strategy lessons with Miss Hera always seemed to be a little unorthodox. He slowly moved his pawn a space ahead on the board.
"So how are things going with the team and Gareth? Are they getting along?" Miss Hera asked while concentrating hard on one of her pawns.
"They're doing okay. Gareth's kinda cool… in his own way. Is there a reason you're worried about this, Miss Hera?"
Hera smiled. "I was just worried that his… affection for Herry might cause friction," she said while moving her pawn toward one of Jay's rooks.
Jay looked at the threatened piece with a furrowed brow. "There's nothing to worry about. Herry doesn't seem to be bothered. I know you're worried that this might break the team, Miss Hera," he said and moved his rook.
Hera smiled slightly. "What about Cronus?" she asked and moved her black knight into striking distance of his king.
Jay frowned a little. "We haven't heard anything from him since the fight at the plaza. Maybe he's running out of ideas?" he suggested and moved his king to safety.
Hera's smile faded. "And Lilith?"
"Um… didn't we defeat her?" Jay asked in surprise.
There was a pronounced frown on Hera's face now. "Jay, how many times have I told you to never underestimate your opponents. Lilith was an extremely powerful adversary," she said while staring at her black queen. "Do you really believe that a simple blast from Gareth could defeat her?"
Jay looked into Miss Hera's grey eyes. They voiced the answer to his question even before he asked it.
"Could she… still be alive?"
Hera moved her black queen to his king. "Check mate."
Both Pan and Gareth sat together in the centre of the gym floor while breathing deeply. They were trying to focus on their powers while Theresa, Atlanta and Odie looked on from the bleachers. They would have no trouble with being disturbed by Apollo any further since Pan had made sure that he was 'temporarily tied up' somewhere else.
"This is weird," Gareth said with tightly shut eyes. "I thought you were going to teach me to fight."
"We'll get to that soon enough, little dude. First, though, you'll have to learn to use your powers. So start concentrating. Block everything else out."
"That's easier said than done," Gareth grumbled.
Pan opened his left eye and followed Gareth's line of sight. He was looking at his friends on the stands and blushing slightly.
"Forget about them. They're not here. Focus Gareth. This is important," Pan instructed. "Try to remember how you felt the other times you used your powers and visualize what you want to do."
Gareth clenched his eyes so tightly that he looked highly constipated. A few seconds passed without anything happening.
Pan sighed. "Come on, Gareth! How did you feel when you last used your powers?"
"Scared," Gareth replied matter of factly. "I was being attacked by a hoard of friggin zombies!"
"Good! Then try to feel that again," Pan said. "Better yet, get angry! That always works for beginners."
Gareth rolled his eyes and, apparently giving into the heavily clichéd nature of the training session, attempted an angry expression. Instead he came off looking slightly confused.
Pan sighed and got up. He was going to have to give the kid a push in the right direction. He walked up to Gareth and leaned in close to his ear.
"Gareth, I heard you've been having trouble with a bully."
Gareth opened his eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?"
A loud slapping sound echoed through the gym as Pan's hand made contact with the back of Gareth's head. A burst of barely suppressed laughter echoed from the stands.
"Ouch! What was that for?"
"Close your eyes and stop asking questions," Pan commanded. Gareth apprehensively closed his eyes again. "Now how did it make you feel when he punched you, huh? Didn't you feel embarrassed when he tied you to the ceiling by the front door? Didn't it make you feel completely helpless? Weak? Useless…"
For a moment Gareth's face reddened and there was a ripple of dark energy at his fingertips. It was so feeble, however, that it was gone a second later. Pan knew that he was on the right track now. He only needed to use a more powerful emotion.
"Hey Gareth, don't you just love Medelia?" he asked.
Gareth's eyes flew open. "What? No I don't!" Another loud slap echoed through the gym. "Ouch! Okay, okay! I'll shut up."
"Good," Pan said and he leaned in closer. "Don't you just love her for wanting to take Jay away from Theresa, especially since she's so much better for him?"
Pan smiled in satisfaction at the reddish tinge that now crept into Gareth's ears.
"After all, she was smart enough to use Herry to get closer to Jay." Gareth's complexion had now turned an alarming shade of crimson and the veins on his face were darkening. "Only he'd be dumb enough to believe-"
The words were choked from Pan's mouth by a cold hand that closed around his throat. Gareth's eyes flew open and revealed the endless darkness that had appeared in them. Without breaking a sweat he got to his feet and lifted Pan from the ground. Shocked shouts echoed from the stands and Gareth's friends rushed toward them.
"Don't ever insult Herry again," he growled in a voice that was not his own. It was demonically deep and chilled the god of the forest to the core. Gareth's hand tightened around Pan's throat.
Pan smiled. "I won't. I'm too preoccupied with his hideously large nose to think about his stupidity," he taunted through gasps for air.
It happened in a blast of chaotic anger. One moment Pan was looking into Gareth's unnaturally blackened eyes, the next they were both blasted into opposite ends of the gym. Gareth smashed into the wall with a sickening thud that echoed dully through the room.
Pan got back on his feet and hastened to join the others who were already helping Gareth to his feet. The blonde boy shook his head slowly and looked around the room with hazy eyes.
"Are you okay?" Pan asked.
"I'm fine," Gareth said shortly. His voice was still much deeper than usual.
"Gareth… You know that I didn't mean those things I said, right?"
Gareth scowled at Pan and rubbed the back of his head. He didn't say a word.
"Look little dude, I had to make you angry," Pan said apologetically. "It's the only way I could get you to use your powers again. I needed to get you angry enough to want to hurt me. And it worked beautifully! Did you see how far you blasted me across the room? You were kinda scary with the black eyes and all, but it was very awesome too!"
Gareth gave the opposite wall a quick glance. "Thanks… But the things you said… Herry's nose-"
"Is perfectly normal," he finished. "Besides, I'm the last person to judge people on their looks," he added while giving one of his dreadlocks a tentative tug. "I didn't mean any of it. Now are we cool again?"
Gareth smiled feebly. "We're cool, as long as we find a way to do that without insulting my friends."
"We'll get there. Wanna give it another go?"
"Sure," Gareth said.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Theresa suddenly asked from beside him. Her forehead was wrinkled in concern. Gareth nodded quickly. "Good. Just take it easy. Okay?" she said and reassuringly placed her hand on his shoulder.
Instantly a shuddering gasp escaped her lips. Theresa bent forward, her eyes turning a dark shade of purple.
"Theresa? What's wrong?" Atlanta asked from beside her. The huntress worriedly took hold of her friend's arm.
"Go get Jay," Theresa gasped. "It's Cronus. Something big is about to happen."
Well, I hope y'all enjoyed the chappie! Thanks for reading!
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