Cat's POV
I folded the crisp paper into my pack. I had just gone over the list of gods and goddesses that may affect how the park operates:
Hephaestus
Hecate
Apollo
Iris
Of course, these were only the main gods and goddesses that would affect the park. I had made sure that Ty knew this, since he asked so many questions.
"Why is your mom on there?" Ty asked.
"Have you ever been in the park after dark?" I replied.
"No," Ty said.
"Well, then you've never seen true magic," I said.
Ty shrugged, then began reading through a park brochure. I turned away, searching through my bag. Since Ty and I would be leaving right after the parade ended, I had shrunk our suitcases into backpacks so we could make an easy get-away. Everything was almost going perfectly.
Except for the fact that the other half of my team was probably camping in the woods, or was without shelter. And I couldn't do anything about it. Unfortunately, neither could Ty.
"So, when does the parade start?" Ty asked.
"The parade starts in merely thirty minutes. Our bus leaves in five, then it takes roughly ten minutes to get to the park. If we're fighting off monsters or trying to solve other complications, that only gives us fifteen minutes to do so," I explained, checking to make sure we hadn't left anything behind.
My hand instinctively reached into my pocket where my newfound sword Excalibur was secured in keychain form. I gripped it tightly.
"Do we have everything?" I questioned.
Ty surveyed the room. "Yeah I think so. I'll check the bathroom."
I nodded, then turned to look out of our window. I saw small groups of people outside, near the bus-stop. Down the corner, which was still a good distance away, I saw the bus turn.
"Ty! Come on! We have to hurry. The bus is here," I called.
Ty stepped out of the bathroom, and together, the two of us walked out. Ty went to go hit the button for the elevator while I double-checked that our door was locked. Then, we headed down into the lobby to check out.
"Cat, we might have to run for it," Ty said to me, looking out the doors.
"Great," I replied sarcastically.
With that we ran to the bus, and barely made it on before it left. Ty and I got unlucky with the seating however, and were forced to sit at opposite ends of the bus. I sighed, looking out the window. When we finally got into the park, it felt as if more than just ten minutes passed. I boarded off, waiting for Ty to join me.
"We're here. Now what?" he asked.
"We fix things. Keep the gods Apollo, Hephaestus, Hecate, and Iris in mind. Try to think of things that we might need to fix," I told him.
"Well, that narrows it down. Cat, Hephaestus! The entire park basically needs fixing," Ty complained.
"Just the rides," I replied.
"It's a big park though. And we have to find/fight monsters," Ty said.
"Then we split up," I suggested.
"And if we do find monsters?" Ty questioned.
"Depending on who it is, teleport or shadow travel."
"To where? How is one of us supposed to find the other in Disneyland?"
"Magnets," I said in a sing-song voice.
Ty broke out into a grin, looking at me. "You remember?"
"I never forget," I responded. "Meet me outside Space Mountain in about ten minutes."
With that, I ran into the crowd and started looking for things to repair. My fist stop was at a souvenir cart with multicolored balloons that were started to loose its colors. I wasn't a child of Iris, so I couldn't do much about it. However, I was able to summon some more brightly-colored balloons to add into the batch. My next job was to repair the almost broken rails on Matterhorn Bobsleds. I took a small tube of Medusa Rock-Hard Glue, then telekinetically held it up to the track. Carefully, I applied it, then magically watched as it hardened into stone.
Afterwards, I ran towards the Disneyland Railroad, grabbing a ride towards Splash Mountain. I had about three minutes left by the time I had gotten off the station. I rushed towards Splash Mountain. Whatever I had to do, I had to do it fast. Quickly, I turned invisible, then sneaked up to the man who was controlling the ride. As I neared, I got the same queasy feeling in my gut that something was wrong.
"Sir, you have to stop the ride," I begged, scaring the operator.
"Miss, you shouldn't be back here. Besides, why should I stop the ride?" the guy asked.
I took a peak at his nametag which in big fancy writing said: Spencer. I then grabbed his face to make him look at me in the eye. As he did, I could feel all of his memories, all of his thoughts, hopes, dreams, and fears flood into my mind. It felt like I was living their life in a second. Slowly, I approached memories of today, each one getting clearer. When I got to the part about him letting the last riders on, I stopped, then spoke softly.
"You have to stop the ride because of a fire," I said, using one of his fears. "Your wife, Cecelia came to work with you today. You let her board the last ride you just sent up. If you don't stop the ride and let her and the other passengers off safely, she could die."
"Fire, Cecelia, safety," Spencer said in a dreary tone.
I blinked, cutting off the trance. Altering memories was an ability I could barely do without passing out. Luckily, I only appeared to be getting a major headache. Spencer, on the other hand, looks like he was about to have a heart attack. He immediately pushed a red button, then brought his voice to the intercom. I sneaked out, climbing up the side of the ride as he yelled loudly into the speaker.
"Everybody attending the Splash Mountain attraction. We have been experiencing technical difficulties and a fire has now started. Please leave in a calm and orderly fashion," I heard.
Then, alarm lights went off along with the sprinkler system. I cursed. There wasn't a fire, yet the sprinklers were drenching me anyways. I couldn't find the power to shut them off as I climbed up the ride. When I finally reached the riders, they were all in a panic, wading through the water. Under my feet, I could feel the ride moving. I knew it wasn't a good thing.
"Come on! We have to hurry!" I yelled at the passengers.
A dad, mom, and little girl looked at me like I was insane, but followed me as I lead them back to exit of the ride. We moved fast as we felt the ride slowly start to collapse. Suddenly, the daughter let out a shriek.
"It's stuck!" she yelled, point to her skirt. It was stuck on a corner.
"It's okay. I've got it," I told her in the best calm voice I could manage.
I got it unstuck, then picked her up in my arms. We made it out, and I could hardly keep my eyes open. I set down the little girl by her parents. That's when I really felt it. The whole ground was shaking below me. I glanced up in terror as Splash Mountain started to crumble down to the ground.
I put my hands up forming a shield around the rest of the park. However, I was weak, and the force of the collapsing ride was too much. I was pushed to the ground, barely having time to shield my head from it hitting the ground. I felt the pain in the back of my head. I could barely see. But I guess the gods spared me, as the force from my shield has counteracted with the force of the falling ride. I thanked Newton's Third Law as the parts of the ride were thrown into the opposite direction.
I stood up slowly. My body was shaking and I desperately needed a nap.
"Evil never sleeps," I muttered tiredly.
"Watch out!" someone suddenly yelled.
I looked at the person who had yelled it. At first, I thought they were pointing at me. Then, I realized the were pointing above me. I didn't have time to look up as a blur of darkness tackled me to the ground. This time, my head was cushioned by a pair of hands.
"Cat?" Ty yelled.
My eyes barely opened and hung droopily. Ty's frantic voice echoed in my ears.
"Are you insane?" he screamed.
My eyes fluttered closed. Noise seemed to drown out. Then, a suddenly burst of Lucky Charms cereal and mint chocolate-chip ice cream filled my mouth. I could feel my jaw being lifted up and down until I swallowed. I took a small breath, then my eyes snapped open.
"I'm not insane," I yelled back at Ty.
He smiled, then turned to face the eager crowd watching us. "She's okay."
Cheers erupted from people I didn't know. I looked at a plank from Splash Mountain that was in my former spot. I easily could've been squashed compared to the size of it.
Ty got up, then offered to help me as well.
"The parade is starting. There isn't a doubt in my mind that they'll stop it because of this. However, they're probably contacting an ambulance and police to check out the scene," Ty explained as we pushed through the impediment crowd.
The crowd didn't seem to like Ty and I pushing through. They were constantly pushing and shoving us backwards. However, we got to a small clearing with hardly any people farther down in the parade's path. Ty and I discussed our plan.
"The Nosi. If you see any, kill them immediately. They should be our top priority," I explained.
"So, the Nosi. What are they anyways. What makes them such a big threat?" Ty questioned.
I sighed. To be fair, I knew little about Nosi, except that they were disease spirits. I looked down at my feet, trying to think of something to tell to Ty.
"Nosi are disease spirits. Usually, they're helpers of Apollo. They don't attack demigods. In fact, they shouldn't be attacking anyone. They shouldn't be here anyways. Something, or someone, has changed the course of the Nosi. They've been brainwashed somehow, I guess. If the Olympians are sick, it's probably the work of Nosi. There isn't any other way to put it," I replied.
Ty nodded thoughtfully, taking in the information. I doubted if that was enough. They die apparently. To him, that's probably all that mattered. I rolled my eyes.
Suddenly, cheers, music, and sound effects boomed in our ears. Ty and I looked to our left where the first part of the parade was coming around. Multicolored props and costumes filled my vision. I blinked to try to take it all in. I took note of a few things that were "wrong."
First, the colors of everything seemed off. Cross that off the checklist. Ty and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyways. Next, the music. It had a sad ring to it, and seemed almost dull (if music could be dull). It was sad to see what was supposed to be happy turned into a depressing movement of almost nothingness. I sighed, watching as it got closer.
My eyes wandered towards Ty. His eyes were scanning the parade. Then, he spoke:
"The mechanics of the car are off. It should be moving much faster. The engine is probably failing. There's also a chance that there might be too much weight. Or maybe there's something wrong with it, considering the plague and Hephaestus," Ty spoke.
I stared at him, not understanding a word he was saying to me. He stopped talking, then looked at me.
"I don't understand a word your saying," I yelled over the noise.
"It's basic mechanics and physics," he yelled back.
Ty started to talk more, but I couldn't hear him over the crowd. More floats ran by, each displaying a character or set of characters. I smiled when I saw a Mount Olympus float go by. Each and every one of the gods and goddesses in the movie was there, all dressed up in wacky colors. Watching as they passed by humored me. The gods could change into anything they want, but I knew that they would rather become mortal than look like Nyan Cat threw up on them.
I focused on the next float, trying not to think about the topic of the plagued Olympians anymore. The next float contained Hades minions Panic and Pain. I watched them wave to the crowd on an Underworld float, with the music 'Go The Distance' in the background. I hummed as I took a small step forward to see behind the current float.
A big dragon was on it, with glowing orange eyes. Every so often, it would turn in one direction and breathe fire. It seemed to be metallic, the way it glowed. But I knew better. I nudged Ty.
"How good are you with mechanics?" I questioned.
"I can do cars. That's about as far as it goes," he replied.
"What about mechanical dragons?" I asked.
"Nothing. Why'd you ask?" Ty said.
I pointed in the direction of the dragon. "That's why."
Ty marveled at the dragon as it looked back and forth between the crowds. Cheers erupted as it breath became fire.
"Well Cat. It doesn't take a child of Hephaestus to know that we're in trouble," Ty claimed.
I didn't have time to reply because the next thing I knew, the dragon looked at us, then blew flames. Ty and I jumped to opposite sides. I landed doing a summersault, pushing myself up. People screamed as the dragon moved into the crowd, knocking down the boundaries separating us and the parade.
Over the dragon, I saw Ty stand up and look at me. He mouthed: Can you do anything about this?
I shook my head no, then reached into my pocket to summon Excalibur. When the dragon saw the gleaming blade, he roared, making a terrible noise that sounded like a mix between nails on a chalkboard and a lion. Suddenly, the dragon breathed flames again. This time, I barely got out of the way. I could feel the heat and scorch on my back. I tried to find Ty to see what he was doing, but couldn't see much of anything over the monster in front of me.
Suddenly, the beast took a swipe at me. I deflected with my sword, barely putting up a fight. I slashed at a giant claw, causing a dark black goop to drip out of the seam. This did nothing to affect the dragon, and only seemed to make it angrier. It lashed at me again.
This time, however, I was ready for it. I jumped up onto its arm, running up along the dragon's side. It kept moving, and I had to jump onto the creatures back. It was the only choice I had, unless I wanted to fall off and become lunch. The monster and I both knew I wasn't going to let that happen.
Try it might, though, because the dragon wouldn't stop moving around, trying to shake me off. I almost lost my footing a few times. I tried to find its heart, but I was too focused on keeping myself on the beast. So instead, I stabbed the dragons back.
The dragon roared in pain, then began to move faster. I tried prying Excalibur out of its back, but had no such luck. Apparently, the gods were done being generous to me for today. As I tried once more one of my feet slipped, and I fell on top of the dragons back with one hand holding onto my sword. I grasped it with both hands. I had been on a mechanical bull once at a camp party that the Hephaestus cabin made; the real thing is nothing like it.
I gripped Excalibur tighter, flailing around atop the dragon. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Ty on the ground in a runner's start position. He was as still as a statue. I rolled my eyes.
"Ty do something!" I yelled at him.
I was moving too much, and with the commotion of the screaming crowd, I doubt he had heard me. However, I didn't get much time to dwindle on the thought. One moment I was above the dragon's back. The next, we were both launched into the ground. I couldn't see and I couldn't breathe. While trying to kill the dragon, Ty could easily killed me in the process! And because of the people yelling up top, he probably didn't know I was on the monster.
I clutched Excalibur, waiting for the impact of the Underworld below me. It never came. Instead, my eyes snapped open at the cold breeze of the wind as the ground spit both me and the dragon out. The momentum carried us up into the sky and was enough to free my sword from the dragons back. This probably wasn't the best time for that, though, as I was now free-falling towards Earth at speeds that would make even my teleporting look slow.
For the second time today, I was about to die. I glanced down at the dragon below me. It had its wings extended, but we were too close to the ground. Not even flying could prevent the cold concrete fate.
Using whatever strength I had left, I willed my self to summon something, anything that would prevent me from death. I felt an light weight object solidify in my hands. I looked up to see that I had summoned an umbrella. How appropriate. I was going to "Mary-Poppins" my way out of this.
Looking down, I saw that the dragon had already crashed onto the concrete, leaving parts of the rock sticking up oddly around him. I saw Ty standing quite calmly next to him. I veered myself towards him. Though the umbrella did slow my descent, I was still falling at an alarming pace. With the umbrella in one hand and Excalibur in the other, I squinted my eyes shut, once again waiting for the impact that, yet again, never came.
"I believe that this is the second time in the past 30 minutes that I've saved your life. Either this says something about your character that you are very reckless or it says something about mine and I just have a knack for saving cute girls lives," Ty joked.
My eyes popped open when I noticed myself cradled in Ty's arms. I surveyed my surroundings. I had let go of the umbrella, which was now blowing around in the wind. Next to Ty and I was the dragon, which had fallen on its back. It slowly starting to twitch and get up. I was set down gently as I recovered from the fall.
"Well that happened," I muttered. Then I back-tracked out of confusion. "Wait. Did you just call me cute?"
But Ty didn't hear me. He was more concerned about the dragon in front of us. He stepped closer to it, then turned back to me.
"You do realize that we have to take care of this, right? And, by the way, you've pointed out that death obviously isn't an option, how might we be able to do that?" he asked.
I thought about it for a moment, than smiled. I searched through my pack for a previously used item. I brought it out, then tossed it to him.
"Use this. It'll glue his legs together. Do it to the wings as well, though. Make it so the dragon can't move," I explained.
Ty obliged and spread the glue on the monster's feet and wings. In the process, however, he had gotten quite a lot on his clothes. I decided not to tell him about the aftereffects. He looked down at the glue on his clothes.
"Geez, Cat. What is this stuff? Ew Glue?" he asked. He offered the tube to me. "There isn't anything left of it."
I told him to go throw it away. As he complied, my eyes scanned my surroundings.
Most people have already fled away from the sight, screaming about faulty wiring. Others were making their way here to see what the commotion was about. And taking part in the latter group, were a few officers. Whatever the mortals saw, I'm pretty sure that they didn't like us tearing apart their Disneyland props.
Ty made his way back, breaking my trance. "Whatcha' looking at?"
"Security officers," I replied sternly.
Ty's face paled. But there was no time to waste just sitting and staring. I quickly grabbed his hand, tugging him in the opposite direction.
"Time to leave," I said.
"Cat," Ty protested.
"Ty, seriously," I started.
"But."
"No, Ty!"
"Cat! Turn around!" Ty yelled.
I whipped around fast, my hair blocking my view. I gently brushed it away, trying to see what Ty was telling me. At first, I saw nothing. But then, I did. And it was them. Four of them, to be exact.
"Dang it," I muttered, staring at the Nosi.
They were slowly hovering towards us. However, upon us seeing them, they turned away, going in the other direction.
I sighed. My head was already spinning from the previous events. I was debating how to execute the plan that was forming in my head. Sadly, Ty had other plans.
"You take in two, I take on two," he said to me. Then, he burst into the crowd.
With now other options, I followed him in. Now, I'm not sure what it's like to drive, since I don't have my license (due to camp restrictions; I can fly a chariot though), but this felt like I was trying to drive the wrong way on a highway full of traffic. My only option would be to pull off. So pull off is what I did.
My feet carried me towards the barriers that held people away from the float. I disregarded it, climbing over it and onto the moving floats. As if I wasn't in enough trouble.
I ran across the moving objects, jumping to each one after I got to the edge. The floats were moving slow, but I was faster, making my way atop each like it was nothing. Soon, I was even catching up to Ty.
The Nosi were still ahead of us though, and they had the aerial advantage. I carried on with both my heart and head pounding. Thoughts flashed through my head.
I'm not great at spell magic, and I'm not completely sure it'll work, but I stopped moving and did it anyways. I pulled out Excalibur, then began to whisper my spell.
"Incantare revertentes," I said, which is "to enchant" and "the returner" in Latin.
Then, I launched my sword at one of the Nosi. I watched as the sword hit the Nosi square in its center, the effect causing the disease spirit to disappear. Then, like I expected it to, Excalibur returned to me. With that, I proceeded to the next float.
Ty, on the other hand, was starting to slow down. The glue! It had been on his clothing, and now it was causing him to slow down. I sighed, watching as he pulled out a small calligraphy pen. Then, then chucked it at the Nosi. I barely blinked at the pen turned into a spear. Apparently, the Greeks have a fetish for weapons magically turning into writing utensils.
The spear flew through the Nosi, magically dissolving it. I glanced away, turning to my last remaining Nosi. It noticeably had slowed down, and I found it easier to catch up. Soon, I was right under it. I leaped up onto one of the float's props, then reached up to hit the spirit with my sword. I barely had time to watch it turn to dust, because something tackled me, pulling me into an eternal darkness.
Ty's POV
I was trying to recall exactly how I got into this predicament. So, it starts with a mechanical dragon. That dragon then attacks Cat, who takes it down. Once passed out, I put magical stone glue on it, in the process of getting some all over my clothing as well. Then, as Cat and I turn to leave, a small group of Nosi appear and we are forced to take them out, thus preventing them from spreading disease to the park's guests. However, in this process, we are pursued by officers AND my clothes also start to turn to stone, thanks to the glue that Cat gave to me. Finally, I shadow-travel with Cat just before she's mauled by a park officer.
My current situation: I'm lying on my back atop Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with Cat on top of me. High up in the air. One arm is wrapped around Cat, making sure that she doesn't move or fall. The other is calmly by my side.
I try to prop myself up, but my hand slips. I suddenly feel my body tilting towards the right. I franticly push myself up, making sure that not only myself, but my partner doesn't fall to either of our deaths.
"Cat," I whispered, shaking her a bit. When she doesn't respond, I do it again. "Cat!"
If she's awake, she's very unresponsive.
I sighed and gave up. This is the second time today my powers went haywire. I'm not sure which one was worse, the miniature earthquake or this. My eyes squinted up at the sun.
I cursed under my breath for not putting on sunscreen. One would figure that it was common sense to put it on, due to the fact that it's the middle of summer and we're in California at Disneyland. Great…
I shook my head. The things you do to save the world.
Cat stirred beside me. "Ty? Where are we?"
"Uh, safe," I lied.
"Okay," Cat mumbled, starting to shift her position.
"Wait! Don't move," I yelled.
"Why?"
"We don't want to draw attention," I said.
At least that was true. Cat stopped moving, but she didn't respond either. I looked at her hand that was resting on my chest. I wondered if she could feel how fast my heart was beating. I wasn't sure if it was out of fear.
Beneath us, the ride zooms by and I can feel the wind from its movement. It's possible Cat can to, because she looks at me. She seems tired, and even now I can tell that's she's only half awake.
"Ty?" she questioned.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Are you wearing cologne?"
"Why'd you ask?" I wondered.
My question was answered only a few seconds after I asked when Cat sneezed.
Now, normally, you would say 'bless you' after someone sneezes, however my friends and I hardly take the word "normal" seriously anymore. I guess I forgot, since I ended up with a mouthful of water.
I couldn't see, it was dark, and I didn't dare try to breath. I supposed that is what drowning felt like. But, the light returned, along with my bearings. I surfaced the water, gasping for air and spitting water out. A few yards away sat a small ferry boat. Cat was sitting on top of it. Begrudgingly, I sulked out of the water while my ally made her way towards me.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"You sneezed, teleported us, and I almost drowned," I muttered, moving a piece of wet hair out of my eyes.
"Yeah, but where were we? Before that, I mean," Cat replied.
I glanced towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. "Somewhere safe," I lied.
"One day, your going to tell me the truth, and I'm going to slap you for it," Cat said.
"I look forward to it," I responded.
Together, we started to make our way through the park. I probably wouldn't be coming back to Disneyland for a while. But something distracted me from these thoughts.
"You and I both almost died today, didn't we?" I asked.
"Yeah, I guess we did. However the first time I blame it on that freak earthquake that occurred," Cat laughed.
I stopped dead in my tracks. "Earthquake?"
"The one that brought down Splash Mountain," Cat stated.
"Oh," I said, not meeting her gaze.
"Ty?" she questioned.
I looked at the ground.
"Ty," she pressed again.
"I may have caused that," I said quietly.
"What?"
"I didn't mean to! I just lost control of my powers!"
"Why were you using them?"
"To try to not die!" I yelled.
"Do you realize how reckless that was?" Cat screamed back.
"Reckless? You think that I was being reckless? Cat, that was self defense," I explained.
"You could have killed someone," Cat muttered. "Could've killed me."
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I clamped it shut. There wasn't anything to say. There wasn't anything to do. Anger boiled inside of me as I walked away.
"Where are you going?" Cat called out.
I pushed myself through the crowd.
"Ty!"
I looked back, meeting her eyes. Then, without a word, she turned in the opposite direction, walking away. I didn't have a clue where she was going. However, there was only one place on my mind as I melted into the shadows:
Vegas.
And that concludes this chapter! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far and I apologize that it takes time to upload any new chapters. I thank you for your understanding. Happy Holidays from pnut9282 and Cordially Un-Invited! Bye!