Ahhh! Almost over guys! I apologize for the shortness of this chapter but there will be one last chapter so...

Enjoy :-D

Chapter 23

We were celebrating.

Haden had appeared not long after the Aloadae had fallen, dragging a very wet looking Po behind him. The others appeared not so soon after, their eyelids drooping. We were too tired to talk as Haden drew a transportation pentagram into the ground with a piece of chalk, instead opting for sitting on the ground while we watched him. Since I had been the first in Athens, they thought it right for me to be first home. I couldn't complain, really.

After a few seconds of having my world turned upside down and bile rise up the back of my throat, I found myself standing in a silent clearing near our house.

It was so calm, so quiet and so unlike the loud, tiring battle field I had just left. Or, at least it was until Alex appeared.

A loud crack! echoed through the forest as Alex materialized where I had only moments before. He gave the forest an almost bored look before his eyes rested on me, a large grin appearing on his face. Before I could react, his arms encircled my waist, heaving me from the ground and twirling me in circles. I laughed openly as Alex shouted, "We won, Mia!" before kissing me on both cheeks and placing me firmly back on the ground.

Reaching up, I ruffled my brother's still immaculate hair, his crystal blue eyes sparkling. I grinned. It had been a long time since I'd seen my brother look so happy.

Another crack! resounded across the clearing and Anna, Aaron and Henri appeared, looking bloodied and torn. Almost immediately, Alex winked at me before turning to Anna, a beatific grin spreading across his face. "Anna!" he declared, spreading his arms wide, "Give me a hug!"

She took a wary step back. "Do I want to?"

Alex pretended to look hurt, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "Of course you do! And to make you absolutely sure, I'm going to show you!"

I could hear Henri choking back a laugh as Alex practically pounced on Anna, enveloping her in a massive bear hug. Anna's loud, screeching protests could be heard as Alex cheerfully threw her over his shoulder, his hand gripping her thigh. She screamed as he did so, clinging to his shirt desperately as he paraded around the small clearing, shouting, "You should be happy, Anna! We won, we won, we won!"

Another series of loud cracks! reverberated across the clearing as the rest of my siblings appeared like smoke. Two of them, Po and Haden, were cheering, their laughter contagious as Zach swung Helena around before planting a kiss on her lips. I couldn't help but crack a smile as the weight of what we had done truly sunk in.

We, the average Lewis family, just defeated two giants from Greek Mythology. We had won, we had succeeded. We had actually done it.

I was aware of Alex still prancing around the clearing, Anna half-heartedly banging his back with her tiny fists. She was yelling her usual threats of disembowelment, decapitation and castration but they were full of laughter, her eyes sparkling in mirth.

Phe and Deanna were squealing, jumping up and down as they smothered each other in hugs. Zach and Helena were now unlikely to surface for air any time soon and Henri had conducted a sing-a-long to the words of 'Celebration,' following Alex and Anna around and throwing rose petals onto them.

It was infectious. I couldn't help but join in, following the group as we slowly made our way through the forest, the dark house coming into sight. A part of me realised that at least one light should've been on since Uncle Carl would be home but I pushed it away, to taken up by the celebration.

Anna had taken control of Alex's momentarily lapse of concentration due to the rose petals (took him long enough to notice) and had leapt from his shoulder. However, the plan had unfortunately sounded better than it actually was because she had ended up accidentally dragging Alex with her. Now they were rolling down the hill by our house, wrestling to see who could get up first.

I could almost envision that amount of complaining I would hear when they woke up the next morning with enough bruises to cover Australia.

We were probably loud enough to wake the whole neighbourhood as Zach slammed the door open, his tongue still down Helena's throat. They were groping each other in a way that was totally not meant to be seen by public eyes, Zach now reduced to carrying Helena into the house. No one seemed to care, however. If those two didn't bother our partying, we wouldn't bother their unique choice of partying. In fact it wasn't until we were half way down the dark hallway when something shocked us into silence.

The light turned on.

Uncle Carl was standing at the mouth of the stairs, his hair dishevelled and deep bags underneath his eyes. He looked as if he was positively about to murder some unsuspecting civilian, his face flushed with rage. I froze, not daring to move as Haden took the time to swear underneath his breath. The entire family went silent, Alex and Anna, in mid-punch, freezing in their positions, which probably wasn't the best of ideas. However, no one breathed, no one spoke, no one even dared to look Uncle Carl in the eye.

We all knew this wasn't good.

"Imagine my surprise when I got home and turned on the TV," he began, his voice cold and emotionless, "And I saw my twelve children fighting two giants in Greece and NOT. SO. FAST. HENRI."

Henri, who had been attempting to sneak out through the kitchen door, winced visibly before backing into the group.

"Do you remember what I told you all those weeks ago?" he continued. When no one answered, he said, "With your unusual cases, I told you to do three things for me. One was not to leave the house, two was to go unnoticed and three was, most importantly, to not fight GIANTS!"

"Technically," Henri mused, "you didn't specifically say the word gia-"

"Henri!" Uncle Carl snapped, pointing at him, "Quiet!"

Henri, who had opened his mouth, suddenly thought better of it and snapped it shut.

Zach stepped forwards, untangling himself from Helena with difficulty as she hastily straightened her shirt, wiping off her smudged lip gloss. Before Zach could speak, Uncle Carl said in a monotone voice, "Your lip gloss is smudged, Zach."

For a second, there was nothing but silence as Zach glanced at himself in horror, Henri in silent convulsions on the floor. Hurriedly, he wiped off Helena's lip gloss, which had rubbed onto his lips, before he spoke, "Let me explain, Unc-"

"No," Uncle Carl interrupted, "I'm going to ask the questions and you're going to answer them truthfully which means no sugar coating or changing the story. Understand?"

He was met with a few mumbled yes's. We knew we were in trouble and we didn't necessarily want to dig ourselves any deeper then we already were.

He took in a deep breath. "Alright, what compelled you to fight giants? Honestly?"

"We're the Greek Gods and their Greek monsters," Zach explained, "It's our duty, almost. Our responsibility."

"Your responsibility," Uncle Carl said in disbelief, "You're not the Greek Gods! You're eighteen years old! Hell, Mia and Alex are only seventeen! And do you really expect me to believe that responsibility compelled you to risk you lives? I would believe you if you showed any responsibility when cleaning your rooms!"

Henri began to speak but Uncle Carl quickly silenced him with a warning glare.

I stepped forward, our Uncle's harsh gaze landing on me. "Please, Uncle," I asked, "They fought the Aloadae because they had to save me. I had given myself up an-"

"You did WHAT!"

I winced slightly at his tone before forcing myself to continue. "They had demanded me and Hera or else they would destroy Athens. I gave myself up so that the others could have more time to plan. They didn't hurt me though," I added hurriedly when noticing the impressive vein pulsing at Uncle Carl's temple.

"Well," Henri stated loudly, striding towards the stairs, "Now that's over with, I'm goin-"

"Not. Quite. Yet. Henri," Uncle Carl said tiredly, "I want to know how? How did you kill them?"

"We blew them up," Anna inputted casually, studying her sword intensely.

Uncle Carl didn't even blink. "You know," he began conversationally, "Most teenagers become obsessed with the wrong stuff and sneak out which is, technically what you do. However, you're obsessed with mythical powers and sneak out to fight giants in the night. Therefore, if I ever discover that you're going on secretive vigilante endeavours ever again, I will treat you with the same punishment other parents might give." He paused and I could totally tell it was for dramatic effect, "So, I've decided, that you're all grounded. For two weeks."

A loud groan emitted around the hallway but Uncle Carl continued, unimpressed, "I also suggest you get some rest because you have school tomorrow."

And with that, he turned on his heel and retreated back up the stairs. He was at the top when he paused, calling down, "Oh, and by the way? Good job."

Then he disappeared into the hallway.

For a moment, everyone was silent. All you could've heard was our breathing and the steady fidgeting of Helena as she tried to not look embarrassed by her tiny snogging session she just shared with the public.

Henri was the one that broke the silence. "Well," he began slowly, "That was cheerful."

Haden shrugged. "It could've been worse."

"You're telling me," Anna muttered.

I shrugged. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but," I paused, striding down the hallway Uncle Carl had just left and turning to face them, "I want to do that again sometime."

Alex gave me a disbelieving stare. "You're not serious?"

"Oh," I said, grinning, "I am."

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Until next time!

P.S. I've edited the first 13 chapters so take a look if you want ;)