Hey awesome people out there!

I need your help. It's just a nice and friendly vote that would really help me in future chapters. I don't know when, but I'm working on it.

Pick an instrument.

Violin, Piano, or Cello?

Thanks.

Anyway, Just let me know in your reviews.

-Olo Eopia03

Chapter 10: Stars

"So, where are we now?" Kalley asked, looking at the map intently. It was already 8:37 AM. Weirdly enough, the new highway that they were driving on wasn't on the map in Arizona. Looking over to the seat to her left, Kalley saw that Allen was still gripping the wheel, looking like he was starting to get the hang of trying to drive for long periods of time.

Elli was sitting in the same backseat, dozing off from time to time. Allen had already offered her these square-like cake (or was it crackers?) things called ambrosia and still she was a little tired from earlier that day. Oh well. She didn't seem to be in the mood right now to talk or listen anyway.

To Kalley it seemed like something back there made Elli a little grim and grumpy.

Did Kalley do something wrong to make her this upset?

Kalley always thought that Elli was the light spirited, bubbly one, which was apparently not the case right now. She had been so easy to socialize with, and Elli was so open and . . . quick to explain the things Kalley didn't really understand (unlike someone she knew . . .). There must have been something that Kalley missed, but right now there weren't any obvious ideas that were blinking madly at the top of her mind.

Gus was right next to Elli in the left hand seat, sleeping as the white fur on his small body rose and fell at a steady beat. He didn't seem to mind the deep vibration that rumbled underneath the car as they drove on. At least Gus seemed less tensed than all of us.

He gets time to relax.

Lucky him . . .

"We're in . . . I think we're in Kansas right now." Allen said. His eyes were still focused on the road, unfazed by the statement that he had said to her. Kalley's eyes widened in shock as she took in what Allen had just told her. In Kansas already? What did they do? Teleport across a city or something?

"Are you kidding me Allen?" she asked in astonishment. "That takes . . . twenty hours, four minutes, and forty-two seconds!" She blurted out, not caring at what she had just indicated. It seemed to be that she could calculate elapsed driving times in a second. Hopefully they come in handy sometime later too.

But I guess that's not really the point, is it?

"How'd you get there without stopping the car or wasting so much money on gas without the car breaking down? Sure, you've reached the highway in the right amount of time, but I'm really starting to think that you're crazy." she snapped. After another few moments of thinking, her impatience flared again once more. "Actually, Allen, we're forty five minutes and 52.5 seconds ahead of where we're supposed to be right now," she hissed. "We're basically in a really freaky car that doesn't really weaken, if you haven't noticed! Did you do something to it?"

"Well, the question really is, what did you do, Kalley?" Allen asked, looking back at her. His brown eyes were glinting, full of curiosity. "Were you in a hurry when we left the hotel? The car really seemed to speed up on its own you know, and the gasoline meter had just frozen in place for that much time."

Well . . . Now that she thought about it, she was a little worried of getting out of that hotel right away . . . and ever since Lamia came by, she'd always wanted to get away from that location as fast as possible.

But did that all really matter? The subject about her heritage and time itself was already starting to make her feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar with her surroundings. It was as if she was a whole different person.

Kalley looked over at the gas meter and saw that Allen was right. The needle was still frozen at the Full Section, and the mileage was at a steady sixty-five miles per hour. Was it possible that she could speed up the acceleration of other things, yet not affect their stamina or to those around them? Maybe she's frozen the meter while speeding up the car. What? It might've seemed possible, but it was still a really mind-boggling subject for her. To be able to control time . . .

Maybe she could really start getting the hang of this.

Allen, seeing that Kalley was already coming to her own conclusion, relaxed back into his chair. "You know, time is really a confusing thing to control," he said, as if reading her own thoughts. "That's what makes him so great."

"You're not surprised by any of this?" Kalley asked, feeling as though everything that was happening to her right now was really quite a big deal. How can he not be surprised? "Of how the car can move faster than most without damaging its mileage rate? Of how I can move quickly like that? Of h-"

"I just want to accept things." Allen replied simply. Then he grinned. "We already live in a world full of horrible and crazy things, so I guess it's alright to just let it all go and accept it. It's actually quite relaxing and stress relieving."

Well aren't you Mr. Cool and Collected . . .

Who does he think he is? Neil Armstrong? The crazy astronaut experienced almost getting killed on TV after jumping out of an exploding space craft, and he treated it as though it was nothing! Maybe Armstrong was a demigod too.

Whatever.

Right. Maybe I should try doing that sometime.

"Hey guys, can we just stop for a while?" Kalley had momentarily forgotten that Elli was there, and apparently awake. "it's starting to get really claustrophobic and all. You know . . . Unlike a vast ocean," Elli muttered, obviously still in a very unhappy mood. Looking at the mirror, Kalley noticed that the corners of Elli's mouth were turned down just a little bit, indicating the frown that was starting to form there. She was only ten to eleven years old . . .

"Well," Allen said glancing at the map in Kalley's hands. "We can try going to Lake Kanopolis. It's not big, but it's not greatly populated there either. There's probably a parking lot or open space nearby where we can have the car stay in. Why don't we camp out for a change?" Elli's face seemed to lighten slightly as Allen said this. She seemed to take this as an automatic yes, apparently. Allen didn't seem to mind. Then she sighed and rested her head onto the windowsill of the car door nearest to her, slowly closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

"So what," Kalley said sarcastically. "you have a tent or something?"

Allen's face seemed to turn a light yet almost unnoticeable shade if pink. "Well, Hermes did say it was better to be safe than sorry . . ."

By that, it meant there really was a tent.

In the stone.

Pebble.

Backpack.

Blah.

Sigh . . .

"Good luck," Kalley added.

"Hm? Why?"

"I'm not helping you unpack it."

{xxx}

Lake Kanopolis really was a beautiful place. The air smelled fresh with a small touch of pine, and the weather was just perfect for the day out at camp. The trees that were surrounding the area had a wonderful, lush, green nature to it. Flocks of beautiful birds occasionally flew by through the clouds. The sky above them was painted a magnificent light orange; it was one of those sights that make you just want to stand in one place and admire the environment around them. But the most breathtaking part was the lake itself. As the sun began to set, the beautiful rays of light shone onto the surface of the lake in the right spot, where the water sparkled like an endless field of diamonds. The water looked so calm . . . so peaceful and undisturbed. When the three arrived there, the place was deserted. All the more better.

As soon as the struck camp there, Elli had already waded into the pool, looking as if a great weight had lifted off her shoulders. Elli's green eyes seemed to brighten and gleam as she looked around her, familiarizing herself with the lake and its surroundings. Her hair, which had been let down while they were on the road, blew with the faint breeze that had passed by. Her face seemed to relax just as her feet had reached the edge of the lake. As she took a dive into the mass of water, she never came back up after a few long minutes.

After about the ninth minute, Kalley was starting to think of what really was going on down there . . . Kalley was almost tempted to jump in herself to see what was happening in the depths of the lake.

"Don't worry," Allen said, as if sensing Kalley's new concern at what was happening. He was finished setting up the two tents (yes, apparently there were two . . . again with the safe and sorry thing . . .), and the sleeping bags were already set just outside. Allen was leaning on a huge boulder that stood nearby, resting for a moment as he looked at the lake. "She probably just wants some time to herself. The water helps a whole lot too." Right. Daughter of Poseidon. Kalley was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the Greek gods were existing. But now, she guessed that she would just need to believe it. That was the only choice that would explain about all the monsters that were out there trying to eat her alive.

Aw, she felt so special . . .

"I think," Allen said, his voice directed to Kalley as she looked at the view of the lake, her back turned to him. "You should start experimenting what you can do right now."

"What do you mean?" Kalley asked.

If they were going to start training, they'd better do it somewhere deeper in the forest; there might be more open space. Kalley made her way through the trees as Allen followed her.

In a few minutes of walking, the two reached a nice open clearing, with trees and some rocks surrounding the area.

"There are some times in which you can actually perform with sort of a natural ability," Allen explained. Hopefully this would get clearer in the end; Kalley was starting to get tired of him talking in riddles. "Other times, you have to experience something new or actually train up to that level to be able to master that task as time passes by."

Good. She got that part.

At least he was speaking in English...

"Kalley, I'll be right back, okay? I'm just gonna go check on Elli, see how she's doing," Allen said, already walking away from the clearing that they hung out in. "maybe you can think of something while I'm gone."

"Okay..." she murmured, thinking of what to do.

Allen had already gone somewhere far, and she wasn't about to ask him any questions just yet. She understood what Allen was saying, but the only difficult thing to perform was just planning what she should try out first. It shouldn't be something that would affect someone near her, and Kalley needed Allen to help give his own input to what she was doing. The minutes stretched by as she tried to think and think of what to try out. But still, she thought of nothing.

"Why don't you try speed?" Allen suggested, his voice coming directly from behind Kalley.

Pretty quick. He was back in quite a short time. Or was it just her?

That one word really didn't register any sort of huge idea in Kalley's mind, but she knew what Allen was talking about.

After a few minutes of thinking, it felt as though a really big light bulb had blinked brightly in the back of her mind. Immediately, Kalley snatched a pebble from the ground and pelted it right at a tree about twenty-five feet away from her. The little pebble flew across, but obviously it wasn't going to reach its landmark in time.

Just concentrate, a calm voice said in her mind.

Kalley felt a strange sensation, and after a moment's notice, she saw that the pebble was frozen in mid-air, spinning ever so slightly as it snailed forward. Kalley looked at Allen and saw that he was watching her and the pebble intently, as if taking everything in for the first time. Well . . . this was the first time.

"Can you make it go faster than its usual rate?" Allen asked, wondering in amazement.

"I honestly do not know," Kalley admitted. Well, let's try it, she thought.

"Maybe you can use your hands too, like Elli," Allen piped up. "Body motions really help. And they look pretty awesome, too."

Not afraid to try the suggestion, Kalley raised her right hand, palm toward the stone that stood frozen in place. For some reason, she wasn't doing this to her own desire; it was as if her hand was on autopilot or something. It just felt right.

With a light flick of her wrist, Kalley saw the pebble race ahead, almost too fast for anyone to see. But, it wasn't just seeing it that made her feel this strange feeling. It was the way it felt. Kalley could feel the sensation of the small object rushing against the law of physics, could feel its rotation building up as it sped toward the tree. So this is what she could control. This could work for just about anything.

Since Kalley had stopped it in mid-air and had increased its acceleration, the pebble was able to hit the tree right on. There was a huge smash and splintering of wood. Kalley glanced over, saw the look of astonishment and awe in Allen's face, and together, they raced toward the tree. It didn't take long. When they finally reached their destination, Kalley's eyes widened and Allen's jaw practically dropped open.

"Oh my gods, Kalley," he murmured. Right where the pebble was supposed to hit the tree, there was a small, bullet-like hole. The really amazing thing was that they could actually see through that hole, yet the pebble was nowhere to be found. Behind the tree, there happened to be another tree, but this time, there was a much bigger opening. It looked like something had bitten the tree itself. For a few moments, the two of them didn't really understand what was happening at the moment. They only continued to stare and analyze the huge and deadly looking impact that was made in the tree before them.

Again, a few feet behind the tree, was a boulder. Instead of a hole, though, there was a large, gaping crater that opened up. Kalley and Allen couldn't see through the other side, but it was enough to make their own minds shatter in awe and confusion.

"I get it,," Allen muttered.

"What is it?" Kalley asked, too stunned herself to be annoyed at what Allen wasn't telling her.

"I learned it long time ago," Allen said. "Ages ago, NASA -you know what that is right?- well, they built this huge gun. It didn't look like a gun, but more like a tunnel. It was used to shoot bullets into layers of metal so that they could test which material would be the most durable against its force. The process was done because it was exactly the same situation that applied to a space craft in danger of being hit by small meteors or other objects in space. These objects can get as small as just a grain of sand, and with enough force it could shatter and destroy the whole space shuttle. NASA built this gun that shoots those kinds of bullets."

"That small, too?"

"Apparently."

"So?"

"Shut up, I'm getting to the point."

"Okay hurry up, or I'll leave."

"So NASA decided to test the machine out, with a bullet being shot through four sheets of 1 inch thick metal that where about four inches apart, each."

"What happened when it shot through?"

Allen gestured to what had happened to the two trees and the rock. "Same thing that happened here. The bullet, being give so much force, shattered when it made contact with the first layer as it went through. As the bullet proceeded, its remains continued on to the second layer, making a bigger and more damaging hole and so on."

Allen finished all of this in...What, two breaths?

Kalley understood everything quite perfectly, but her only thought was, I thought you were a son of Apollo, not Athena...

"Well, look at you, smarty pants..."

"What! Don't blame me! My friend gave a huge lecture to me at camp in astronomy while we were at a campfire singing songs, and you know how children of Athena can get when they're interested in a subject they're really into . . ." Allen sighed.

Kalley had a feeling that Camp Half-Blood was going to be an interesting and strange place to live in.

If they got there.

"If you were speaking in Chinese, I think it wouldn't make a difference whether you were talking about this or about a field trip to Canada."

"Hey, at least my friend wasn't interested in architecture. Seriously, that would've been sheer torture."

"Thanks for letting me know."

"Anyway, that's probably what happened to your pebble, Kalley," Allen continued, almost looking annoyed. Looking at the sky, Kalley saw that it was already starting to get dark. "I guess we're done for today," Allen said.

"Really? That felt like nothing," Kalley still felt fine, but after a few seconds, she could feel a small dizziness come to her head. Maybe she did feel something.

Fine, she'll rest.

Out in the distance, they heard a small yell from the lake. Elli was calling out to them. The sun was already starting to set and the air was turning colder. It wouldn't be a bad idea to head back to camp right now.

{xxx}

The three had ended the day by eating half of what was taken from the hotel (you know, cupcakes, bread, muffins, all that good stuff,). A warm fire sat crackling in the middle of their triangle. It was a good thing Allen knew how to make a fire, and Hermes was ever so kind enough to provide them with the materials needed. By that time the three had already decided that they wanted to sleep out in the open space ("Yeah, I'm not helping you pack again, Allen,"). The sky was really just too beautiful to resist.

The sun was down, and the sky was completely covered and dazzled with glittering, white stars. It was one of the most beautiful scenes of Kalley's life. San Diego had enough pollution (though not as much as Los Angeles) to cover up more than three quarters of the stars that shone in the sky during this night. Looking at the wonderful scene before her right now, Kalley really wished that she could stay here and stare at the sky forever long hours at a time.

She really wouldn't mind.

After a few minutes of saying good-nights, the first two that had gone to sleep were Elli and Gus. Kalley and Allen lay a few feet apart in their sleeping bags, their eyes gazing at the stars above them as they listened to Elli's soft and steady breathing.

"You know," Allen said, quietly enough so that only Kalley can hear. "She was training awfully hard today. I saw her when I left you to go check on her."

"I thought she was just hanging out in the lake," Kalley said. "like, getting some down time and relaxation."

"Same. But she was already out of the water, practicing really tedious and back breaking moves for even a professional sword fighter," Allen said. His eyes stared wonderingly at the sky as his chestnut colored hair ruffled while a wind blew past. "When she made a mistake wrong move, I can remember her groaning out loud, cursing at herself. Elli looked ready to collapse, but still she moved on. I guess . . .-"

"She's really pushing herself that hard?" Kalley asked. Then it all clicked. "Oh, because of last night . . ." Allen nodded.

"That's probably why she was so grumpy today. That's one thing different about her and Percy . . . " Allen was muttering to himself again, as Kalley rolled her eyes, wishing that Allen could see her face that was full of aggravation. "it seems as though she didn't want her friends to be burdened with anything that's actually happening to her. I guess that's why she's trying so hard. Percy was already naturally talented . . .-not that Elli isn't," Allen added quickly.

Kalley shrugged. "Maybe she's just different. Give her time,"

"Maybe," Allen said quietly as the two continued to look at the stars. The moon looked almost full, its bright aura shining back on the land. The fire nearby emitted huge amounts of warmth and a sort of cozy feeling. Kalley wouldn't mind doing this every day.

Kalley tried to close her eyes and sleep, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get herself to doze off. She looked at Allen and saw that his eyes were still gazing at the stars above, thinking.

"What do you see up there, anyway?" Kalley asked. Allen glanced back at her in surprise.

"You don't know what constellations are?" he asked, a tinge of amusement in his voice.

"I mean- I've heard of pictures in the sky before, but I don't see anything, as far as I can tell," Kalley said. The sky looked too crowded to have pictures in them. Connecting the dots would be just another helpless and confusing game to play at this time.

Then it looked like something caught Allen's eye, because at that moment he pointed his finger at the large cluster of stars that hovered up there in the glittering sky.

"There's a constellation. Orion. And Hercules . . . and . . . " He trailed off. His eyes were staring at the stars, mesmerized by the beautiful scene before them.

"Which is your favorite?" Kalley asked.

"I dunno. I don't have a favorite. But I really like the Phoenix," Allen said. He pointed at a region of stars off to the left. "Right there. The picture isn't much, and there isn't really a story that came with it, but it's still looks meaningful to me."

Nope. Nothing but a huge clump of dots.

So meaningful.

The two continued to stare at the sky, lost in their own thoughts. Kalley huddled in her sleeping bag as another cold wind whistled by.

"The Phoenix is a bird of rebirth, right?" Kalley asked, remembering all those times when she had free breaks or spent the whole day at the bakery with Dory. Dory . . . "It's life went on a repeated cycle every time, and in the end it always burned up and was reborn from its ashes, ready to start a new life once again."

Allen nodded. "But really, you don't know whether the part when the bird bursts into flame is the end. What if it's really the beginning?" Kalley never thought of that. "It means that everyone always has a chance . . . or a second chance. It didn't matter who they really were before in the past life. They didn't need to know anything."

"And they won't be blamed for anything they've done or caused." Kalley finished.

"Yeah, exactly," Allen murmured, as he looked at the stars. "Everyone has a chance to become a phoenix."

"Tell me more." Kalley said. She didn't know why, but for some reason she wanted to know more about the differently constellations up there.

"Hm? You're so interested now?"

"Just tell me." Kalley insisted. For a few moments, Allen seemed to be deep in thought as he looked at the stars. He looked like he was debating over which constellation to start with first.

"Well . . . There's another interesting constellation . . . Pegasus . . ." The voices of the two teenagers continued on as Allen told Kalley story after story, myth after myth.

It turned out that Allen was actually a pretty good raconteur.

I don't know how long they talked for, but it looked like both had a pretty great and relaxing time. It soon became something that took their minds off of more worrying things. The fire crackled endlessly as more and more legends of valiant heroes and deadly monsters were told, the glowing embers dancing in the firelight. With each story that was told, each legend that was said, the sky continued to look more beautiful and breathtaking.

The night continued on like this, as the stars continued to unravel the mysteries being shown and told about their bright past.

Please review.

-Olo Eopia03