Thank you to: Ellen 26, breezy 59105, spacegirl94, music5692, meiscool2, Anonymous Friend, FantasyFan-WriterGirl, The Angels Have The Blue Box, Ultimacy On High and olympianchef213 for reviewing chapter 10.
Sorry for the long wait on this guys and gals, but exams take precedence, and I've been ill. Thankfully, they're over, so I can get back to writing.
Disclaimer: If I owned this, you'd pay £6.99 for it, and it's come with a snazzy cover… and real pages.
Exiting the dilapidated house, I looked up at the sky. It was ablaze with the light of sunset, a mesmerizing tableau of reds and purples, fading softly into pinks and yellows as the sun sank luxuriously into the horizon. I'll see you later Dad, I thought rather wryly.
I was still staring into the horizon when Katrina nudged me in the arm. I shook my head to dispel the lethargy that had overtaken my body and looked at her soft features, lit up by the sunset, seemingly ablaze with emotion, hinting at delights untold and… whoa, stop right there Artie, I told myself. You're a son of Apollo, but that's no excuse for getting all soppy and poetic. You have a job to do.
"Artie? Artie? You there?" She snapped her fingers in front of me, bringing me out from my inner monologue.
"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry about that, just got a bit distracted. I'm a half blood, it's what we do, eh?" I said, slightly too quickly.
"Well, shouldn't we get moving? I mean, get to this food court, and find the 'eternally blind king?'" She asked.
I looked up at the sky, and then at my watch. It was getting late, and no doubt this food court would be closed by now anyway.
"Not tonight. It's too late, we'll have to wait until morning. Besides, I don't know about you, but I am exhausted. Let's find a hotel to crash for the night, yeah? I looked at her pleadingly. She rolled her eyes and said:
"All right then. But first thing tomorrow, we're moving out. And since you got to handle the sphinx, then I'm calling dibs on the next monster we face, you got that? I'm not gonna be letting you take all the glory from this quest."
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We did a quick walk round and found the best hotel within a reasonable budget. We walked up to the counter, trying to look as mature as possible, and I said: "Excuse me, we'd like a room please." I felt Kat's foot dig into my shin. "I mean, uh, we would like two rooms, with a connecting bit in the middle, just for one night, uh, uh…" I stammered.
The concierge looked at me with a critical expression and said, in a painfully obviously fake French Accent "Excuse-ee moi, suur, I am efraid we du not cat-er to min-ors."
Kat shoved me to the side and said "We are NOT minors. We're 16 years old. We just happen to look quite a lot younger at the first glance." She frowned, as if she was concentrating very, very hard, then clicked her fingers. The sound echoed around the near empty hotel lobby. "look again. We are not minors. We ARE sixteen years old." She kept stressing the verb sounds, and something in the verb sounds.
Something in the concierge's face shifted slightly, and his voice seemed to take on a slightly different tone, one that conveyed welcome, rather then annoyance or patronization. "Of course, madam. Please, allow me to show you to your rooms. And will that be cash or credit?" He asked, the epitome of politeness.
I shot her a questioning look, she waved it away and said "Cash please, we'll only be staying for one night." She reached into her bag and pulled out a roll of notes, handing them to the concierge.
"Now, you were going to show us to our rooms?" she suggested.
"Of course madam. Right this way."
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The room was immense. Seriously, you could have played baseball in the central room, and still have room for four rows of spectators. And the sheer number of sofas and comfortable chairs could probably accommodate that many people as well.
"I will leave you now, sir, madam, please feel free to call for anything from ze room service, or remove any items from the minibar." The concierge said before spinning around and leaving the room.
I waited five seconds, before saying (I might have shouted, come to think of it) "Mind telling me what the bloody hell just happened? One minute, he was about to throw us out of the lobby, the next, he was acting as if we were bloody royalty. And what was with that finger snap? And this massive suite? Which, by the way, we can afford how?"
I'd have probably gone on if a need for oxygen hadn't defeated me.
"Shhh!" she said, raising a finger to her lips. "Do you want us thrown out?" she looked at me outraged. I took a slight step back, remembering what she had done to Zane during capture the flag. I shuddered inwardly.
"But…" I started.
"Whatever. Anyway, what happened was a little trick I picked up from Chiron. You remember what he told about the mist that hides our world from the mortals? Well he showed me how to manipulate the mist, allow it to control what we look like or how situations appear to immortals. I'm not very good though, which is why I needed to use the click as a focusing point."
"As for where the money comes from to pay for" she gestured limply around the room "all this, just remember that the Gods have deep pockets, and that Chiron likes to make sure we don't run out of money on these quests."
"Okay, I'll drop it then." I said, somewhat mollified, but mostly confused. "I'm gonna take advantage of this massive suite, and get some archery training done." I didn't get enough got enough practice before we had to leave camp, and I'm nowhere near confident enough to leave something like that to chance in a combat situation.
While talking, I was searching through my bag for the collapsible target one of my siblings from the Apollo cabin had given me. I caught sight of the look that Katrina was giving me.
"What?" I demanded. I mean, she was looking at me like I was repulsive.
"You might not have noticed, but you really need a shower." I stopped, and lifted my right arm, taking a deep sniff.
Big mistake.
Katrina had a point. I really could use a shower. I guess all that sweating I had done under the sphinxes glare had taken it's toll.
"Okay, maybe you're right. I will take a shower. See you in twenty, okay?" I said, heading towards the door.
"That's the Jacuzzi. Bathroom's that way." She pointed at another door, far across the room, shaking her head in amusement. I turned, wordlessly, and entered the bathroom.
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After my shower, I went into my room, and grabbed hold of my staff. I put it into it's bag, then started practicing, the way I had before my life had become so insanely complicated. Everything just melted away, no more monsters, no more deaths, no more quests to save the lives of my extended family. It was just me and my OCD. All was consumed by the endless flow as twirl, strike, block, thrust, parry. I began to mix it up, making the transition between staff and bow as smooth as possible, firing arrow at targets that I set up on impulse, trying to perfect my aim at close range. All thought, all reason, emotion, everything just went away.
So far away, in fact, that when Katrina entered the door, I almost shot her with my bow.
I say almost, solely because Kat's reflexes were good enough to dodge the arrow as it flew at her.
"What the hell Artie? Why are you shooting at me?" She screamed, feeling around on her belt for her throwing sickle.
"Wait! It was an accident, I swear, I didn't mean to. You just startled me, I was training. For Hera's sake, don't hurt me." I screamed. I knew exactly what Kat could do in a fight, and had no intention to experience it for myself.
She took in a few deep breaths, obviously trying to fight down her anger. To be honest, if I was in her position, I'd probably have failed. Thankfully, Demeter kids aren't as hot blooded as the rest of us half-bloods.
"Okay. I just came in because I was worried, you've been in here for over 3 hours, making noises. You really should relax, get some rest. We've got an eternally blind king to find, remember?
I glanced at the clock. It was approaching midnight.
"Crap… I didn't realize…" I stammered. "I'll see you in the morning, Kat."
I know, I know, it's been AGES, but I've had a million things to do. But it's all good now, and here's the latest chapter. The next one should be up relatively soon, okay? In the mean time, review. I'll answer one question per review, as normal.
