A/N Me no own.

Ok, so we didn't quite make it to 40. Try harder this time!

Book of the update: The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent

Chapter 10

I took a breath and composed myself before I softly pushed Leo's arms away. He gave me a concerned look, but my emotional state seemed to be good enough for him and it soon changed to confused and he opened his mouth to start the flood of questions that I knew would come eventually. I groaned, mentally preparing myself. I had to tell him something; he deserved that at least, but not everything. Best keep it as simple as I can…

"What do you want to know?" I asked in what I hoped was a pleasant and helpful tone. It may have been irritated, but I tried, I really did.

He raised his eyebrows, his open mouth just sort of hanging as he thought about it.

"I um…." I rolled my eyes. He's already overwhelmed and I haven't even said anything yet. "What happened? What was that thing?"

I narrowed my eyes. Hylla had told me about the Mist, but I wasn't really sure how much it would hide. "What do you think happened?"

"Um…there was those guys who were after your sister and some cat thing and the guys attacked us – or you attacked them, really – and then the cat started…talking?" he looked at me for confirmation and I nodded.

"I fell asleep, I think…..then some old lady caught on fire or something and you pulled me over here. Then you hugged me," he said the last part with a ridiculous smile on his face.

I rolled my eyes again. "Yes. And I did not hug you, I just…I needed something to lean on. Yeah, that's it. I lost my balance and needed something to lean on. It could very well have been that tree, you just happened to be closer and why am I defending myself to you?" I crossed my arms, raising one eyebrow. He just grinned bigger.

"Ok, sorry. But that cat – or maybe it was the old lady – said something about children of the gods? What does that mean?"

Hmm, how to answer that one…wait, hang on a second – "You remember what it said?"

He shrugged. "Bits and pieces."

"Like what?" I pressed and he scrunched up his face, thinking.

"Something about a…..prophecy? And sleeping. A lot about sleeping."

"Okay, a prophecy, children of the g-wait! Children? As in plural?" I spun my head around wildly, looking for Hylla or any signs of another demigod.

"Hylla! HYLLA!" no answer. Not even the tell-tale crunching of leaves underfoot.

Leo didn't remember much; he probably just said it wrong. Probably meant child. Hylla wasn't here.

I shook my head to clear away the thoughts. "Right, so there's a prophecy. Prophecy…..never heard one; maybe it hasn't been made yet? Hmm….no, that doesn't even make sense….ugh! I wish Hylla were here; she'd know what to do," I grumbled the last bit with a frown.

Leo gave me a look. "Right…..are you sure that you're completely sane, Reyna Garcia?"

"Don't call me that!" whoops, came out a lot harsher than I'd intended. "I'm just Reyna now. Just Reyna."

He backed up a bit, hands in the air like surrender. I took another deep breath to calm myself; I seemed to be doing that a lot.

"Sorry," I muttered. "It's just been….it's been kind of a hard day for me, I guess."

Leo dropped his hands, an understanding look on his face. "Okay. I'll drop it, for no, but you still owe me an explanation, got it? I mean, we were just attacked by freaking aliens! It's like something from Star Trek, ya know? 'Live long and prosper' and all that."

I stared at him as he rambled, not having any idea what he was talking about. When he was done, he seemed to notice my blank look and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you've never seen Star Trek." Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow, and he sputtered. "But….never even heard of it? Captain Kirk, Spock, Vulcan, all that stuff?"

I was slowly shaking my head, denying everything he said until something came out that I recognized. "Vulcan?"

He smacked his hands together, making a loud clapping noise. "HA! So you have seen it, you little liar, you."

I brushed his hands aside, focusing on more important matters. "You know Vulcan?"

His grin slipped. "Well, it's just a planet; can't really know it. I mean it's just a TV show and you've never seen it, have you?" he finished with a disappointed question that sounded more like a statement.

I rolled my eyes. Of course not. Like this pathetic little mortal would actually know the great god Vulcan. Thunder rumbled in the distance and I sent out a mental apology, though for what, I don't really know.

Leo had noticed the thunder as well, and he looked at the sky warily. "Looks like it's about to storm pretty hard, we better get inside somewhere." I just nodded, and he looped his arm through mine. "If I may, Your Majesty?'

I laughed, a genuine smile playing on my lips. "Lead the way, Lord Valdez!"

We made our way down the many confusing and twisty streets at a leisurely walking pace until it started to rain and we ended up running. Yes, running. And no, we were not holding hands; I was simply making sure he didn't get out of my sight because I didn't know where we were. And keeping his arm attached to mine seemed like the best way to do that. For safety.

We came to this little building with a person holding bread drawn on the glass door, the word Panera, whatever that meant, written above it in swirly letters.

Leo pulled me inside and pushed me over to an empty table, telling me to sit there and wait. He had to let go of my hand. Pshh, not like I cared or anything. Nope, just thought like it would be a good detail to mention in the story. That's all.

As I sat at the table, I looked around at the other people there, partly scouting for hidden monsters, partly just observing the people. Most were there with other people, but a few were alone, pressing buttons on silver or black box-thingies. There were a few little kids, but mostly adults and a few groups of people about my age.

Leo came back with a smile and a little black box with blinking red lights on it.

"What's that?" I asked as he sat down in the chair across from me.

"It's uh...this thing that tells us when our food's ready. I got you macaroni and cheese, hope that's okay," he said and I nodded. What the heck is a macaroni?

The black box began beeping and the red lights blinked faster as I stared at it, fascinated. Leo laughed a little at my face. "That's our food, hang on, I'll be right back." To my disappointment, he took the black box with him, and it was gone when he returned, carrying a tray with something very good-smelling on it.

He set the tray down in the middle of the table, handing me a bowl with yellow-ish warm stuff in it and a spoon. I sniffed the bowl experimentally and it made my mouth begin to water. I could hear Leo laughing as I attacked the macaroni, but I didn't really care.

"Have you never eaten here before?" I shook my head in answer, my mouth full of cheesy goodness. "Wow. They have these everywhere. Where exactly did you say you were from?"

I froze, slowly swallowing before I answered. "Um…the island."

He gave me a funny look, but seemed to drop the subject. "Okay, so when I was up in line, everyone was looking at me funny, so I was like what is there something on my face? And this old guy, right in front of me just started like laughing and I was like what? So then it…." I sort of zoned out as he told his story, making animated facial and hand motions to go along with it. I laughed and nodded to make it seem like I was listening, but really I was thinking about my sister, and if we would ever see her again. Wait a minute, when did I start thinking about Leo and me as a we? He and I weren't a we. Just…me and him. Not we.

He caught me not paying attention I guess, because next thing I knew, he was waving his hand in front of my face.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah," I laughed fakely, just in case it could still fool him.

He raised his eyebrow. "You didn't hear a word I just said did you?"

I smiled guiltily and he laughed. "Your Highness, we need to work on your attention span," he said, mock-seriously.

I slapped at his shoulder across the table. "You're one to talk!"

He looked at me confused. "What? I don't think I was paying attention, sorry," he finished with a teasing grin and I laughed.

He was a fun person to be around. Maybe Leo and I could be a we.

A/N what does a beta do? Do I need one? I've never had one, but if someone wants to explain and maybe even beta my story that'd be great…? Anywho, what'd you think? Now can we get to 40? 45?