We do not own PJO since I'm not a guy that is married with two kids, and Derek is not married either.

Derek: I'm not? xD

~Chapter 7: Among the Past~

I tugged Melanie along the the only place that I knew the Titans would probably check last, thinking us maybe a little too smart to go somewhere so obvious. Hopefully they would give us just a little bit of credit for being smart.

You want to know that place I had in mind?

The Empire State Building.

I know, we were probably stupid to head there first, but we needed a place to stay the night and feel safe. Melanie had an idea on how to stay covered, and if there is a person I trust more than her, let Zeus strike me down now. Er, well, since Zeus is little occupied at the moment, maybe not, but you get the idea.

I trust Melanie, okay? That's the simple way of putting it.

On the way to our idea of a hiding place, I could already tell that Kronos had gotten the message of our escape. We soon came face to face with Tammy, the empousa that had bitten Melanie's arm the day before.

Not trusting what might happen, I snarled at Tammy and tried to push Melanie behind me. My sister stood her ground beside me, her sneer just as scary as mine. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was giving Tammy what I called 'The Melanie In Evil Mode' look. It was scary look, making my sweet innocent sister seem like a criminal.

I gotta say, I was pretty proud.

"What do you want now?" Melanie snarled.

Tammy's face was stone hard, letting us know that she wasn't just trying to scare us into answering questions anymore. Now she was freaking pissed.

"You both know the punishment for trying to escape," Tammy growled, her eyes glowing a brighter red, almost as scary as her hair.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Melanie mocked. "As if you'd give us the death penalty. We're way too awesome and cute for that."

"Well, I am, anyway," I interjected. "But Melanie here..."

My sister elbowed me lightly in the ribs, and I smirked a little. Just trying to lighten the mood in a not-so light conversation, if you know what I mean.

"You can both come with me quietly and get a small punishment, or you can get caught later and be killed," Tammy said as calmly as she could. "It's your choice."

I looked at my sister. "What do you think?" I asked her, trying to sound confused as if I was still making up my mind.

My sister shrugged, trying to be goofy. "Honestly, it's a tough choice, but..." she glared at Tammy. "Lets blow this popsicle stand!"

I looked at Melanie incredulously. "Seriously?"

My sister shrugged. "You have your weird words, I have mine. Deal with it, Maxie."

I rolled my eyes, watching Tammy get more and more irritated out of the corner of my eye. I could see the Empire State Building off about a block away, and I knew that we could make it there if we ran fast and actually managed to distract Tammy.

"Whatever," I eventually said. "How about we..." I trailed off, and then yelled as loudly as I could, "RUN!"

At the same time, Melanie and I took off running as fast as we could towards Tammy. Surprised by the sudden outburst and events, Tammy hardly reacted as we barreled past, Melanie shoving the monster to the side just for revenge for her arm.

We raced to the building, and we were about ten feet away from the doors when something grabbed onto the back of my dirty shirt and yanked me back really hard. A pale arm was soon wrapping around my neck, and I realized with rising panic that Tammy had caught me. Melanie dove for the door, grabbing at something that I could exactly see.

Melanie then screeched to a halt a millisecond later when my hand was no longer in hers, holding the item from previously out of my sight. My sister turned around lightning fast, her face showing obvious signs of panic. I opened my mouth to speak, but Tammy jerked her arm back, causing me to gag and cough instead.

"Stop it!" Melanie shrieked, taking a step forward and holding her hands forward in a surrendering gesture. Tammy must have done something that I didn't notice or see, because Melanie suddenly backed towards the building a few step, raising her hands higher than before.

"Just let him go," my sister said calmly, her eyes flickering between me and the monster.

"The come on," Tammy growled.

I coughed, black spots dancing in and out of my vision. "Mellie..." I choked.

Melanie suddenly revealed what was behind her back, something shooting towards Tammy's face before the empousa could even react. The monster screamed, turning into a dust like flour and settling on my clothes. I made my famous Ick-Face, my nose scrunching in disgust. There was a clattering sound, and I looked behind me as a celestial bronze-tipped arrow fell to the ground.

Glancing over at my sister, I saw that she was holding a bow in her hand, and there was a quiver that she started to sling over her shoulder. My mouth was agape.

"What?" Melanie asked, catching onto my weird look.

"You shot her," I said simply.

"Yeah, so?"

"When have you ever been that good of a shot?" I asked, bewildered.

"Since now?" By my sister's tone, I could tell that she was just as confused as I was.

I shook my head. "Forget it," I murmured.

As I was about to brush past her, Melanie pressed the bow into my hand and then handed me the quiver full of arrows. At my questioning stare, my sister only smiled proudly.

"You were always the better shot," she stated teasingly.

I grinned. "I guess so," I said.

We walked past the doors, stepping over the frames where the glass had once been but was now shattered all over the floor and furniture. It was dark, but we could make out the silver glow of the elevator. We pressed the button and entered, noticing that the key was still in the Olympus elevator slowly went up, no music playing at all. Just dead silence.

When the doors slid open slowly, I felt my sister gasp from the sight. The golden and marble columns were crumbling and falling apart, the statues and temples in complete ruins. The thrones were still intact, but they were must and ruined.

Weapons lay all over the floor, adding to the horrific sight.

I put my arm around Melanie's shoulders, pulling her against me. I needed to know she was their to comfort me as much as she needed me to comfort her as well.

We walked through Olympus, finally getting fed up with seeing all the destruction that we had helped to contribute to. I finally found a house, kind of like a cabin, that was still study enough and standing. We bunked there for the night, the devastation of our situation finally sinking in.

We were alone. We were outnumbered. We couldn't possibly win on our own.

Now, it was personal.

Now, it was do-or-die.

And I sure as hell don't plan on going down. And if I am...

Melanie and I are going down swinging.

Hard.

WHOOP! Like? Hate? REVIEW?

~The Twins