Cpov
"So why did you have me tell Chris we were meeting here?" Max asked me frowning at me as I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned up against his locker. "I'm going to be late for practice."
"You'll be fine." I said.
"Do you know something?" He asked suspiciously.
"I know lot's of things."
"And yet you're still dumb enough to skip all your classes." Said a familiar voice and we both looked up to see Will walking towards us.
"And yet you're still dumb enough to try and make me go to them." I said looking up at him. He looked as if he wanted to retaliate, but I'd just done him a huge favor so he kept his mouth shut.
I smirked.
"Wait, is this why we were waiting here?" Max said looking at me annoyed. "Why didn't you just tell me to tell Will to come find you?"
"Your sister works in strange ways." He said not taking his eyes off me.
I stared right back.
"Well." Max said glancing between the two of us. "I'm beginning to feel like a third wheel here so I'm going to go to practice now," he said. "I'll see you guys later."
"See you." We said in unison and after one last glance at us he started walking back to the athletic block to join the rest of his team.
"So I just talked to my coach." He said looking down at me his expression hard to read.
"That's very interesting." I said sarcastically.
"It should be." He said ignoring my tone. "Because he said he talked to you."
"So?" I asked feeling for some reason uncomfortable.
"So he said he knew why I was struggling so much in practices, and he was going to give me a couple days to sort it all out."
"Well that sounds like a very generous offer." I said shrugging and starting to walk away. "He must like you a lot."
"Coach does like me and you're right" He said putting a hand on my shoulder. "It is a generous offer. Too generous. Coach doesn't play favorites. But it is the kind of thing someone would offer you when you worked them over with a little of that charmspeak of yours."
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said pushing his hand off my shoulder. "And don't touch me."
"You didn't have to do it." He said quietly
"I know." I said uncomfortably aware of the fact he was following me.
"Why did you help me?"
I turned back to look at him and he still had that same, unreadable expression on his face.
"Max was stressed about losing you as a teammate on varsity."
"Bull shit." He said angrily. "What's the real reason why?"
I felt my cheeks burn. Very few people could tell when I was lying, and I'd thought that was a good one.
"You help me a lot." I said looking away refusing to meet his gaze. "I guess I was just returning the favor."
"Well, thank you." He said quietly.
"Yeah, well, don't go getting a big head over it." I said glaring up at him. "Don't think that means anything changes between us. I still think you're annoying."
"There's that sweet tempered girl I remember." He said with a sigh. "Well changes between us or not, we've still got a monster problem to deal with. What are we going to do with all these things attacking us? We can't keep this up forever and I don't think either of us wants to go to camp full time."
I shook my head, shuddering at the thought.
"Well then, what do we do?" he asked.
"I'm not sure." I said frowning. "Maybe we should go home and do some research. See if there are any stories or anything about a sudden increase of monster attacks on demigod that aren't associated with apocalyptic prophecies and the end of all times."
"Yeah let's hope." He said with a bit of a rye smile. "Who knows? Maybe we'll run into some monsters on the way." I saw him brush his ring with his thumb. "I wouldn't mind interrogating a few."
Wpov
By some miracle, Cali and I made it home with no attacks. I suggested we do our search together, but she said there was no way in Hades she was spending any more time with me than she had to. So I guess she was right about one thing. Even if she was willing to do me a favor, for the most part, things hadn't changed between us.
After hours or research on the internet, through books, and even calling a few of my friends from camp I had produced zero results.
I was tempted to text Cali and see if she'd found anything but resisted the urge. If she found something she would have told me and me asking about it would only annoy her.
By one o'clock, I still had found nothing. I was tried, my back hurt from sitting at my computer for so long, and I was just considering going to bed when a familiar voice said.
"Hello William."
I jumped and turned to see an extremely beautiful blonde sitting on my bed, a faint rose colored glow emanating from her silhouette.
"I thought I might be seeing you." I said cautiously. But the fact that I'd prepared myself to see Aphrodite, did not make her sudden appearance any easier on me.
"You always were a smart boy." She said with a stunning smile, the exact same smile Cali wore when she wanted something from me. It was unnerving.
"What do you want?" I asked her suspiciously.
"I have a job for you."
"Cali's home right now." I said frowning. "She's safe. What could you possibly want me to do?"
"Well as I'm sure you've noticed, there's been an increase of monster activity in this area."
"Yeah." I said darkly. "You know why?"
"Yes." She said with a scowl. "One of Hecate's mortal children was playing around with magic and accidentally opened a door into the Underworld."
"You're joking." I said blankly.
"Why would I waste my time coming to you to tell you this if it wasn't true?" she asked annoyed.
"Because you like making my life difficult." I said.
"You should have more respect when you speak to me." She said coolly while inspecting her nails. "You do realize I could vaporize you in an instant, don't you?"
"You're not going to do anything to me." I said unimpressed. "If I died, who would protect your precious daughter?"
"You know you're awfully confident of your self importance." She said but now she looked amused. "Who says it needs to be you to protect her?"
"I'm sure you have your reasons." I said darkly. The gods, no matter how much it seemed like it, never did something without thinking it through. "Besides, I'm the best aren't I? Who's more qualified to guard her than me?"
This time she did smile.
"Well, as I've stated before. You are very smart."
"So this door." I said frowning. "What do you expect me to do about it? I can't use magic."
"You can't." she agreed. "But you're not the only demigod in the world are you?"
"What do you mean?" I asked frowning.
"The ability to control magic is, in a sense, as simple as being able to change the environment around you. Think about The Mist. Those who can manipulate it are masters of illusion. They influence other's thoughts and sensations. Can you think of no one with such abilities?" she asked with an expectant look. "Can't you think of anyone who is skilled at manipulation? Who can influence the thoughts and emotions of others with ease?"
"You're talking about Cali." I said uncertainly.
She nodded.
"Wait," I said confused. "Are you saying that Charmspeak is a form of magic?"
"It's closely related."
"And you think that she can close the door?" I asked.
She held up her hand, and there was a flash of gold. When the light died she was holding a scroll written in Greek as well as well as a bronze key.
"She'll be able to do it." She said confidently. "But as you've already seen, monsters have found the door-"
"And you want me to be her body guard." I finished for her.
"Well, that is what we agreed." She said sweetly, but her eyes were as hard as steel.
"Fine." I said flatly. "Where's the door?"
"Are you familiar with the theater on Broad Street?"
"You mean the abandoned one? Where they used to put on all those terrible musicals?"
"It's in the basement."
"Of course it is." I said darkly. "So, if we get caught. Not only will we fail to close the door, but we'll have breaking and entering charges to deal with."
"You both have records so you'd better not be."
"Thanks for the reminder." I said sarcastically.
To be honest, I wasn't really worried about getting caught. The building was abandoned, and any security was likely to be minimal to none. My main concern was keeping Cali safe. That place was huge, and if there really was a door to the underworld in it, it was probably crawling with monsters by now.
"Why does this have to happen to me?" I asked dully. This door could have popped up anywhere, but it had to be here.
"Yes you really do seem to jump from one problem to the next don't you?" she asked watching in interest as I reached into my closet where I hid my tool bag.
"Yeah and you don't help." I muttered.
"Well, as you said." She said with a grin. "I have my reasons."
I could sense her power starting to build and instinctively I looked away. The next thing I knew there was a brilliant flash, and she was gone, leaving me alone in my room, staring after her wondering how she could go to such extreme lengths to protect her daughter, yet not bother to see her even when she was only one wall away.
I shook my head. I'd long since given up trying to understand how a god's mind worked. It usually only confused me more.
Knowing there was no time to waste, I looked out into the hall to make sure my parents were truly in their room, asleep, then made my way to the office where I knew Dave kept his safe.
The combination lock was laughably easy to open, though I did feel a surge of guilt when I realized that the numbers for the code he'd chosen were from the date of my mother's and his anniversary. I grabbed my lock pick set and took out the tools, replacing the empty box, and put them into the front pocket of my bag. I walked back into my room and climbed out on to the fire escape, then knocked on Cali's window.
"Haven't we seen enough of each other today?" she asked annoyed but pulling up the blinds. I was surprised when she opened the window. She seemed to notice.
"You would have just opened it anyways." She explained.
"True." I said.
"What do you want?" She asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"I need your help." I said
"Again?" she asked annoyed but then her eyes fell on the book bag, which was thrown over my shoulder and she looked a little more interested. "With what?"
"Think of it, as an unofficial quest."