Chapter 10

"Mmmmm…" Alexia groaned as she looked around her surroundings. The Minotaur was fighting a boy with sandy hair and ravishing blue eyes. She sat up and found herself in front of a house in a really creepy forest. Suddenly, she was aware that her head throbbed in pain and her whole body ached.

"Who are you?" The boy asked as he struck the Minotaur with an azure weird-looking sword.

"Aren't you supposed to be asking for help?" Alexia suggested, sitting up. The boy nodded vigorously, not taking his eyes away from the creature. She stood up and felt a wave of nausea make its way to her stomach. She gritted her teeth and frantically looked around for her dagger, Clio. It was a few feet away from her, and Alexia felt like a long time passed when she finally got hold of it. Gripping the hilt hard, the Minotaur spotted her and she felt her heart hammering beneath her chest. It came toward her, and she summoned ice without knowing it, then the next thing she knew, the Minotaur was slipping, its butt landing on the hard ice.

Alexia's knees buckled and her vision blurred. "Hey guy with the creepy sword, where are you?" She shouted, feeling weaker than ever. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck the Minotaur. It roared in pain and Alexia caught the moment to kill it. She turned its body into ice then after a moment, it dissolved into gold dust. She quickly felt all the energy drain out of her, and she slumped on the ground, leaning her head on a tree as she plunged once more into darkness.

"Where would she be?" Nico muttered. He was worried about that girl Alexia. Honestly, he'd grown quite comfortable with her, and now that she was gone, he felt the sudden need to look for her anywhere and everywhere.

"Who knows? Maybe we should call Chiron." Edith chided, taking a bite of his apple.

"Chiron? Man, she was most probably kidnapped by that Minotaur. I should've protected her. " Nico hissed, clearly disappointed of how the quest was going.

Thunder roared and rain started pouring. Nico sat on the ground and felt the raindrops land harmlessly on his skin.

"We'll find her tomorrow. For now, we need rest." Edith suggested as he went in the tent with Adam. For a moment, Nico was astounded how Edith had packed a tent and empty cans of Diet Coke in his backpack. He would never understand that satyr.

For a few hours, he did not feel restless or sleepy, he took watch despite the fact that his hair and shirt was soaked in rain. He sat there the whole night, thinking about a million things at once. A nagging thought had been bugging him, resulting for him not to sleep. He needed to find Alexia. He didn't know why he had to find her now, but something told him there was more to that girl. Not just some ordinary camper who was lucky enough to have powers. Though he did not know her that much, but a weird connection kept pulling him toward her. And now she was missing.

"Go to sleep, Nico." Adam's voice mixed with the quiet sounds of the crickets, and the slow torrent of the stream a few feet away from them. Nico turned to him and found Adam looking at him with bright eyes. The rain had stopped now, and he had no intention to go to sleep at all.

"I'm not that tired." He replied, leaning on a tree while he looked at the huge moon, slowing his breathing as he listened to the peaceful night. A few seconds later, Adam was beside him, tugging his jacket closer to his body. Nico didn't actually like the guy, in fact he was irritated of Adam. Ever since the CTF game where they argued, he realized that Adam was a senseless freak, an idiot.

"So where do we look for Alexia?"

"Somewhere in the east. I saw the Minotaur head there."

A flame danced on Adam's palm, and he closed it before speaking.

"Do you think she's still alive?" He asked, shifting nervously. "And why would the Minotaur capture her anyway?"

"Of course she's alive." Nico snapped, surprised he sounded so protective. "And I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the one being referred to in the prophecy."

There was another moment of silence, when Adam finally asked;

"You care for her, don't you?"

Nico couldn't say anything. Yes, he wanted to answer. Or so he think he thought that was his answer. But all that he did in reply was nod.

"Wake up, please." Alexia heard. She fluttered her eyes open and came face to face with the boy earlier. She realized they weren't outside anymore, they were in a small, warm house, filled with candles. She sat upbolt and breathed heavily.

"Where the heck am I?" She exclaimed, hugging her knees.

"A secluded place in Manhattan. We're quite away from the city. After that creature died-"

"Minotaur. It was a Minotaur."

"Yeah. I decided to bring you here. I mean, I couldn't just leave you there to die, right? Or maybe you think it was a terrible idea."

Alexia shook her head and tried recalling what had happened. She needed to find the boys now. She couldn't continue the quest without them, or even if she went back to camp, Chiron would be really disappointed. And she couldn't imagine what the other campers would do to her once they knew that she had given up.

"I'm Austin Gilbert." He said, extending out his hand. Alexia stared at his mesmerizing eyes and carefully shook his warm hand.

"My name's Alexia." She croaked, thinking about the danger that would happen to her.

"Is this your house?" Alexia asked, hoping to clear her mind.

"My aunt's, but she's been missing for a week now and I don't know where she is. All she told me was that she was visiting my mother, then she never came back after that." He answered, his voice sounding distant. He let out a cough and shook his head. "So technically it's mine now. The thought's quite cool, except for the fact that the electricity was cut off, and I'm kind of getting low on food supply."

Alexia wanted to laugh, but something about his situation made her feel sorry for him.

"Where is your mom?"

"Mental hospital. She, uh, did a lot of… unspeakable things, so she ended up there." He replied, sounding as if he had answered that question a million times already. Alexia was sure he was a demigod. He had powers and he owned a creepy sword, and he fought the Minotaur.

"Where's your father?" Alexia asked, making sure of something.

Austin shrugged, looking at her. "Don't know him, and I've never met him."

That explained the lightning, the missing father, and the powerful force around him.

"Oh my god."

"What?!"

"You. You're the child of Zeus."