I hope readers enjoy a chapter from Lucy's perspective as her and Zyanya's mysteries grow ever deeper. (Endless amounts of apologies for the delay in chapters for anyone who likes the story, school sucks. I may be considered fast compared to other writers, but to me this is painfully slow with my lack of time to write). Please review!
First Person: Lucy
"How are we gonna do this?" I asked Zyanya mentally.
"We need to use the power I chose you for!" The goddess shouted to me. The others instantly looked to each other and knew a game plan. Jason, Veon and Audrey charged to Enceladus, Emily and Piper went for Piper's dad, while Leo dashed for the tree harvester, which stood between Mr. McLean and the Earthborn.
"You know we can't push it! Do you have any concern for our wellbeing?!" An image of the goddess appeared in front of me, who was really just me but I seemed to be older, and in a pure white version of my outfit, my features sharpened from the goddess' touch at its finest. She could only be seen by me because she was just a mental image the goddess thought was useful to talk to me with. Zyanya made sure to make my face look slightly different than the original, but I guess talking to myself was better than staring at her true form constantly.
"I understand, but if your body cannot be enhanced so much that I cannot utilize it properly, I will leave and find a proper host instead!"
"I can't risk the others finding out. They'll only worry about me and most likely limit the use of my powers out of concern. They don't understand things like I do."
"I know, but I can only do so much to assist you if you limit me such. A giant can only be defeated by a god and a human working together, but that means you and I must both have some influence and control for my power to be viable to kill Enceladus." In the background, Leo had reached the tree harvester and swung the crane arm through the bonfire, toppling burning logs onto the Earthborn and spraying sparks everywhere, two of the Earthborn going down under the fiery avalanche and melting back into the earth. Piper and Emily were cutting Piper's dad free, while Veon, Jason and Audrey were running around the giant, managing to avoid its massive spear and blasts of fire to try and earn a strike here and there.
"Fine, but we need to be careful they don't find out, all right? After what happened protecting the others from the wind blast at Aeolus's, we had to resort to half a dose! Veon nearly found out about it, too, with you not putting the syringe in our pocket before he caught it. Something so simple shouldn't have required any dose in the first place."
"I played it off well enough, didn't I? Had a rushed to hide they syringe, he would've gotten curious and definitely know something was up." In the back of my mind, I knew she had a point. She knew it too, but luckily she wasn't the person who shoved it in your face and merely moved on. "Now, to the more important issue. I need you to work with me to summon our power." Leo had destroyed another of the Earthborn, but they retaliated, throwing large, hard rocks at the driver's seat and forcing Leo out just before the hailstorm made the harvester look like a crushed soda can, sinking in the mud. Then, the bulldozer roared to life, the little gadget Leo had made previous and stuck on the thing while Enceladus was distracted by Piper and Emily working.
"Right, let's do this. But no pushing it."
"That depends on you. You are the one I'm handing the controls to here."
"Well, don't blame me if I don't know how much power I can take at a time."
"But I do. We work together. Now let's move. Practice is good for us, anyway." Piper cut her dad free and Emily helped her lift him and start moving him. The Earthborn launched another volley of stones, but the dozer swiveled in the mud, skidding to intercept, and most of the rocks slammed into its shovel. The force was so great that it pushed the dozer back, and Emily stood to block any ricochets from reaching Piper or her dad with her invincibility.
I ran forward, feeling the power of the goddess flooding through every cell of my body, every inch of my soul. It was both refreshing and scary, as the power fought me for freedom, but Zyanya kept it in check to amounts that I could handle, her mental image disappearing as we went to work. I began to glow white as her powers merged with mine, and I ran to the Earthborn to blast it in the face point blank with a beam of energy coming out of the palm of my hand. It melted down into clay, before I turned and repeated the process to the second of three. The blasts were high power, but also high cost as I felt a wave of fatigue. Just two weaklings and I'm already feeling it.
"I need more."
"Are you sure you can handle it?" The goddess asked, her voice now in my head.
"Give it to me a little faster and I'll make sure to release any I can't contain!"
"Hey, stupid!" Leo shouted, throwing his screwdriver at the final Earthborn. It didn't kill the thing, but it certainly got its attention, the screwdriver sinking deep into the Earthborn's forehead like it was made of Play-Doh. The Earthborn yelped in pain and halted from its march to Piper and Emily, pulling out the screwdriver and turning to Leo before realizing its allies were gone and growling, thinking Leo had been the cause. The last ogre seemed to be the biggest and nastiest of the bunch, and now it was trained on Leo.
"You die! Friend of Yay-son dies!" The ogre scooped up handfuls of dirt which immediately hardened into rock cannonballs.
"Now, Zyanya!"
"Give me a second or you'll be flooded with too much at once!"
"We shouldn't be having these problems after four years!"
"Let me remind you that there hasn't been much training involved within those past years. A monster here and there, but nothing requiring too much skill. We need to work together now and adjust to it, and that means both of us. We are limited right now with our lack of experience working together. You cannot demand something of me and then turn around on it! Do you want me to be subtle, or do you want me to release it all?!"
"I need a spot in between that!"
"Well only training will help us find that spot where you have the power you need without it overwhelming you! I've spent decades within hosts before, most much older than you! You are an inexperienced child and these things don't come like magic!" I knew it would take time for us to adjust working together, and we'd done well enough for the subtle things, but once we were getting into real battles with bigger threats, we were going to have to up our game. We needed to learn more about each other's fighting style, our strengths, habits, limits and preferences. That wouldn't happen instantly, no matter how much power we had.
"Hephaestus!" Leo shouted, bursting into flames and charging in barehanded. Idiot! We'd been bickering when we needed to help Leo, now! Some goddess we were. Then, he was saved when Piper and Emily each slashed down the Earthborn, cutting off its arms on either side with their daggers. Six arms dropped to the ground, boulders rolling out of their useless hands, and the Earthborn looked down, very surprised.
"Arms go bye-bye." Then he melted into the ground.
"Seriously, those things are getting a vocabulary," Zyanya made me say it out loud. Piper and Emily stood there, breathing hard, their daggers covered in clay, and both looked angry, as if daring the Earthborn to respawn so they could shank him again. Hestia would never be able to attack someone or be so angry, it was just against her nature of kindness and of a warm home-like feeling. But her daughter was a half-blood, and that human in her allowed her to reach beyond her mother's limits. The combination of a god and a mortal would allow power beyond any of the gods. I needed to prove that I was the right host to a god as powerful as Zyanya, that I could take her already powerful abilities and take them to heights she'd never seen in any of her previous hosts.
"Nobody hurts my friends," Piper declared. "Come on!" We turned to join the others.
"Let's try this again," I said. Zyanya's power flowed through me again, and it felt like a punch in the chest, but I held my ground. The others had managed to strike a few times, golden ichor, the blood of immortals, tricking down the legs, arms and chest of the giant, but the wounds weren't big, and the others were becoming predictable. The ground was clinging to their feet limiting mobility as the earth became stronger, and Enceladus was bread to fight Athena, a wise and smart fighter, so naturally he had to be able to combat any plans the others had. Not that Veon or Audrey were tacticians, and even though Jason was acting on instinct from his buried memories, he still wasn't anything compared to a giant, nearly struck numerous times, the giant faster than his size would assume. Their attacks seemed only to annoying and enraging the giant.
"I'm not some minor monster," Enceladus bellowed. "I am a giant, born to destroy gods! Your little toothpicks can't kill me!" None of them wasted the energy to respond, working to keep moving as they fought the ground clinging them, the air full of smoke from Leo spreading the fire. The fire was stoked by the winds, the temperature approaching the heat of an oven. My stunt fighting off the giant's fire with ice had taken a lot out of me last time, but if Elsa from Frozen could do it, surely I could too, right?
I held out my arms, and spun like a dancer, focusing on my power to be ice-based and shooting it out around me. I turned to a rhythm, making sure I spread the ice and cold winds I was creating to spread evenly around the area, cooling the area and smothering all but the biggest flames of the fire, and even turning those to candle size. Then, I concentrated the blizzard to circle around the giant, closing in on him with the winds like a hurricane before it went into him, freezing him from the inside and out. It looked like Jason had been grazed on his shoulder and was retreating, his arm clearly numb, meaning it was my turn now to keep the giant distracted.
I summoned my pistols, figuring they were less energy consuming and more concentrating my power. I began firing while running up, keeping the giant distracted from Jason. Veon had used his sword as a step as he stabbed it into the giant's leg and used it to jump up onto the giant's arm. He summoned his lance and then ran up Enceladus's arm to strike him in the face, before running down his other arm, drawing his gun and firing at the giant as he retreated. Enceladus roared and swung his arms wildly, throwing Veon off, but I concentrated and then grabbed him with my telekinetics, catching him in midair and slowly dropping him to the ground. I focused and willed his sword to come to me before I passed it back to him.
"And where the hell have you been?" He asked, taking his sword back.
"Just working out the new body and fighting style," Zyanya said through me.
"Any problems?"
"Just the usual deciding of how to do things."
"Gods and their limits, eh?"
"We're working on it."
"So you two aren't like, merged into one or Lu's not sleeping?"
"No, our souls cannot meld. That kind of thing is rare, and very hard to get correct. I suppose there could be a bonding of two souls, maybe through two shadow travelers or some kind of talismans, but no proper and complete melding. Besides, she can hear everything you're saying. I sleep on occasions, Ve, but I'm still awake during the normal hours of the day." It was still an odd sensation, having Zyanya talking through me but still being able to contribute my thoughts. She rarely ever spoke before this quest, and she deepened my voice to a more serious tone, with her ancient wisdom behind it. In return, my voice sounded higher compared to hers. There was a distinct difference, meaning we still had a way to go before we merged, found a middle ground between us and getting along so perfectly we were one.
"Uh, so who do I refer to you as?"
"Just call me Zyanya, but remember that I am Zyanya and Lucy. Do you really wish to go into this confusing and never ending equation right now?" I pointed to the fight, and he nodded.
"Right, right." Audrey was using the water in her bottle through hydrokinesis to strike from two sides at once, the snake of water striking like a blade and flying all around. Of course, that slowed Audrey in the slightest as she tried to multitask, and the small amount in her water bottle couldn't do much damage to a giant so big and powerful. Emily wasn't skilled with her dagger, but she was now in a battle mood and it was unlikely she could charm Enceladus now, so she ran over to Jason, who was at the edge of the clearing. She returned his javelin to him and checked out his arm. She wasn't a healer, but her invincibility would come in handy if Jason was attacked. I wasn't the leader of this quest, but I could still be a good help in commanding with Zyanya's knowledge and my creativeness. It was our job to help protect Jason's team, after all.
Enceladus was swatting at Audrey's water snake like it was a fly, and Audrey was currently the only one attacking. Enceladus was a smart giant, and instead of going for the rest of us, who he should be angry and for annoying him, he went for Jason as he was weakened. I looked around, assessing what we had. Leo was heading for the remaining equipment, now going for the hydraulic ax. That would get the giant's attention while Piper and Emily get Jason to safety. Then me and Veon would join Audrey in keeping the thing distracted.
"The mighty Jason Grace," Enceladus taunted. He stomped and Audrey was knocked off her feet, nearly stepped on, and she suddenly turned to water in her panic and surprise. An interesting power, to be sure, and I'd have to remember to try that one day. The water normally would've sunk into the ground, but Audrey stayed a puddle near Enceladus's foot, probably gathering her bearings and adjusting to the power. The puddle of water shifted, rolling across the ground. So she was learning to control it. Good to have her know her powers.
"Yes, we know about you, son of Jupiter. The one who led the assault on Mount Othrys; the one who single-handedly slew the Titan Krios and toppled the black throne." Jason paused, the names seeming to strike something within him, though he didn't know what. Jason had much notoriety, and a lost memory wasn't a good thing when practically everything is trying to kill you in full force.
"What are you talking about?" Jason asked. But he realized his pause made him vulnerable just as Enceladus blew fire at them. Emily pulled him out of harm's way just in time, barely avoiding Jason getting singed as his clothes smoked, and then she shoved him out of the way as she turned to hold her arms up and block Enceladus's spear. Emily's invincibility still allowed her to feel the force put against her, the sharpness trying to penetrate her skin, but she held her ground through the pain and the spear wasn't able to do her anymore harm, Jason scrambling back and out of the way. I blasted Enceladus with my built up beams of energy, his attention diverting to me.
"Ah, a daughter of Zenobia, are you? Following in your mother's foolish footsteps, I see. Hear me, Zyanya, you will soon be destroyed. It is only a matter of time before your power fails you, and Gaea will have no use for you. When this world belongs to us, you shall not be offered mercy, let alone protection from the Chaos."
"I don't need your protection, and I sure as hell won't let you take this place without a fight!" I ran up to him, the power ready to burst within me, but I kept it in control, we kept it doing exactly what we wanted. I jumped up to punch him in the chest, causing him to stagger back. When I hit the ground again, I reached and grabbed Veon's sword that was still lodged in Enceladus's leg and turned it to push it up and cut his leg and jumping up. I fired my gun for long range, the bullets doing damage as they were infused with my power as well, before slicing across the giant's shoulder and then kicking him farther back. He tried to swat at me, but when a girl gets power from a goddess to do anything she can imagine, the first thing she does is learn how to fly, so I knew how to move in combat.
"You are weak, goddess! Choosing to inhabit hosts does nothing but limit your power!"
"You are smart, Enceladus. You must know that I choose my hosts carefully, and I choose to inhabit them for a reason. You were built a specific way to counter a goddess, meaning her strengths and weaknesses are predictable enough for you to be her opposite. Every god is limited in one way or another, stuck in a personality, with power directed to a certain task or ability, and I admit even I am subject to such a fate. But just because plants need water to grow doesn't mean Demeter can control it. Did you know that the giants were originally made to be undefeatable by the gods, but humans changed that, allowed the gods to prevail? Mortals hold power you may never understand, never be able to accept! They can take bend the powers of the gods and take them to heights impossible to the gods themselves! And that is why I will not fall to someone such as you, or Gaea!"
I guess I felt honored to be considered one of those humans that were worthy of praise from her of all gods, if she could even be called a god (or goddess, of course). But of course, hosting her did have its drawbacks. My mother was her previous host, and she was a goddess, not a human. I was three quarters god, as my mother was a full goddess and my dad a half-blood, but even that was a large amount of human, enough to be useful, but also resilient to host the power of someone so great. Even so, I required doses of nullifying sedative to keep Zyanya's power under control if things got out of hand. If her power got out of control, and my part-human body couldn't handle it, I would burn up, soul and all (so no afterlife and whatnot), and that would be the end.
It was a risk I was willing to take anyway, and it wasn't like I had much to miss even if that did happen. Before Zyanya, my life had no purpose. I was a runaway, and I had no idea why I kept fighting all the challenges of the world. I feel like I have some kind of goal for my life, helping the goddess for as long as I can, and there wasn't really anything I cared for to miss if and when I did die. No family, no friends…Wait. I…I had friends. Would I miss my friends if I died…?
I mean, when Zyanya first told me to go to an orphanage, be taken in and fit in with society again, I hated it. All these people talking to me, being loud and obnoxious and never shutting up, feeling pity for me since I was an orphan. School got even worse, with hormonal teenagers cursing their heads off, talking about worthless junk when they should be paying attention in class, throwing things across the room, and shouting out unneeded comments when they shouldn't just because they knew it was annoying, acting like they're the best thing since the wheel was invented.
The choir and drama kids at least could take things seriously and I connected with them more. I always loved music, and thanks to the goddess, I could play any instrument I wanted even though I'd never laid a finger on them before. Choir is where I'd met my friends. Audrey, Emily and Veon. We were all different in our own ways, even if we didn't know to what extent back when we'd first become a group. I'll admit, I got attached to them. We always made fun of how weird Veon's name was, we sang our songs, Audrey and I would share stories that we wrote, Audrey would show us pictures and art she drew, Emily would always ask how our days were, even though most of the time we just said "good" or "it sucks, you?", but she was nice and cheerful all the same. I liked them, and I'll admit, maybe I'd miss them if I lost them.
Not to mention I was making more friends, like Jason, Piper and Leo. Demigods were my people, I guess you could say. I connected with Audrey, Veon and Emily, and even after only a few days, Jason, Piper and Leo were to my liking as well. All those people at Camp Half-Blood, every demigod out there…it felt like I wasn't alone anymore, there were so many friends I could make. The thought actually…excited me, despite my previous demeanor where meeting more people just meant I was expected to actually put effort into speaking to them and remembering their names. Ugh. Okay, maybe I still wasn't over that phase. Oh, right, we were fighting a giant right now.
Suddenly Jason charged, attempting to strike while the giant was distracted, but Enceladus turned to him hearing his battle cry. At the last second, Jason faked a strike and rolled between the giant's legs. He came up quickly, thrusting with all his might and attempting to stab the giant in the small of his back, but Enceladus anticipated the trick. He stepped to the side with too much agility for his size, and it seemed the earth was helping him. Ever heard of a fair fight, Gaea, or do you not believe Enceladus can with this fight us on his own? He swept his spear sideways, met Jason's javelin, and with a snap like a shotgun blast, the golden weapon shattered.
Imperial Gold was volatile, I remembered, and even Medea had warned us not to break Jason's weapon. The explosion was hotter than the giant's breath, blinding us with a golden light. I held my arm up to block my eyes, but otherwise, the heat didn't hurt me with my enhanced body. I felt the force of the explosion pass through me like a punch in the chest, but nothing too serious compared to the things Zyanya and her hosts had faced before. I had some of her memories since our merging, but she still made sure to keep dangerous knowledge to herself. There were things she didn't tell me, and when my human mind needed sleep, she could go about doing what she wanted with my body. I wasn't worried she'd go and make me act like a fool or anything, but it did worry me about what kind of things she'd hide from me. It had to be important if I wasn't allowed to know, and I was her trusted host, after all.
When the dust settled and I lowered my arm, I saw that Emily had pushed Jason to the rim of a crater. Enceladus stood at the other side, staggering and confused. The javelin's destruction had released so much energy, it had blasted a perfect cone-shaped pit thirty feet deep, fusing the dirt and rock into a slick, glassy substance. Had Emily not acted, shoving Jason back and shielding him with her invincibility, he'd have surely been dead. Both were still steaming from the aftereffects, and Jason was without his weapon now, but they were alive. Enceladus blinked at the destruction, and then laughed.
"Impressive! Unfortunately, that was your last trick, demigod." Enceladus leaped the crater in a single bound, planting his feet on either side of Jason and Emily. Emily scrambled to get into a blocking position, when the giant raised his spear, it tip hovering six feet above them. "And now, my first sacrifice to Gaea!"
"Not on your life…" I muttered before holding my hand out. He raised his spear over his head, keeping it in line with his striking point, and then swung it forward. But I stopped it about a third of the way, my telekinetics working against his strength. The spear shook as he resisted, but I grabbed ahold of it and locked it in place.
"Heads up!" Leo yelled. Veon suddenly appeared out of the shadows at Enceladus's foot, and Audrey's water reformed into her at the other, before Veon extended his lance towards her and she took the other end the moment she solidified. A large, black, metal wedge suddenly slammed into Enceladus with a massive thunk! The giant toppled backwards, assisted as Veon and Audrey pushed the lance against the giant's ankles and acted as a tripping wire, sending him down into the pit. Looks like Leo managed to get the hydraulic ax working.
"Jason, Emily, get up!" Piper ordered. The two did so, Jason a little wobbly but obeying her charm speak command. Piper ran over and slung his arm over her shoulder, wrapping her arm around his waist and helping haul him to his feet. "Don't die on me. You are not dying on me!"
"Yes, ma'am," Jason said, still a bit lightheaded.
"Woo!" Veon said. "I can't believe that worked so well. Nice job with the water thing, Audrey."
"Well, your charades about what to do came in handy. We're teaming up if we ever have to play a round of that, got it?"
"Deal. It was kind hard to tell if you understood, being a puddle of water and all." I waved my hand and summoned Enceladus's spear into my hands. It was a bit bulky, but not impossible to hold, especially with me in the air and my strength.
"Nice coordination, you two," I said, hovering down to them. "And Emily, very quick acting. All of you, in fact. You're all master demigods already. Ah, how they grow so fast." Veon chuckled.
"Thanks, old woman."
"How dare you? I'm only 16!" Everyone shared a small laugh before a grunt made us realize we still had work to do. In the crater, Enceladus was struggling to rise, an ax blade the side of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate. Amazingly, the giant managed to pull the ax blade free, yelling in pain while doing so and causing the mountain to rumble. Golden ichor soaked the front of his armor, but Enceladus stood.
"Good try, but I cannot be beaten." As we watched, the giant's armor mended itself, the flow of ichor stopping. All of the cuts previously made by Audrey, Veon and Jason (who had worked so hard to make) were sealing and just pale scars. The cut on his leg and the one on his shoulder that I'd made with Veon's blade were in the process of healing, but my bullet wounds were taking their time, as my weapons had a special flare to them that resisted healing and reforming of the target. Thank Zyanya for that. Leo ran up to us and saw the giant before cursing.
"What is it with this guy? Die, already!"
"My fate is preordained," Enceladus said. "Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes."
"Only by both," I said, and the giant's smile faltered. There was fear in his eyes that I knew how to kill him. "Gods and demigods have to work together to kill you." The giant lunged forward, stumbling up the crater's slope, slipping on the glassy sides.
"So, do you count as a god, Zy?" Audrey asked.
"I'll admit, I've never actually tested it on a giant before," Zyanya said through me. "Usually I let the mortals and the gods handle that and blast my enemies to Tartarus myself. Doubt I could do so as easily in this body. Consider that the gods are merely a title for the children of the Titans, barring the occasional exception like Aphrodite. You call Zeus a god same as you'd call Enceladus here a giant or Kronos a Titan. I'm not exactly sure what I technically count as, and god is merely a title given to me because I'm powerful and humans have yet to find a proper name for me I approve of. I'll need one of you as my demigod to team with, but I'm sure I can handle the rest, whether I count or not."
"What does that mean?" Veon asked. I couldn't help but smile at him.
"Means what I said." He shrugged.
"Okay, well, I can go. I'm best equipped and I have a lot of experience." Everyone looked around in approval, but the option was taken out of his hands as Jason stared at Enceladus before suddenly leaping at the giant with no weapon but his bare hands.
"Enceladus, look behind you!" Piper and Emily shouted together, thinking quickly before the giant tried to attack him. It was obviously a trick, but their voices together held so much persuasion, that even Zyanya and I were tempted to look over our shoulders to see if there was something interesting.
"What?" The giant asked, and turned like there was an enormous spider on his back. Jason tackled his legs at the moment, and the giant lost his balance, slamming into the crater and sliding to the bottom. While he tried to rise, Jason put his arms around the giant's neck. When Enceladus struggled to his feet, Jason was riding his shoulders.
"Guess we're doing this now!" I said before dropping the giant's spear and launching into the crater as well. I kicked Enceladus's arm away when he tried to reach for Jason and then held both away with my telekinesis, all while launching to join Jason. My telepathy from Zyanya allowed me to hear Jason silently pleading to his father for aid, offering his own life if it meant he could save his friends. Zeus could easily ignore his son, not even hearing his silent prayer (even though he'd be a serious jerk if he did so, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case), but he couldn't ignore an order from Zyanya, since she held a much higher authority than him.
"Zeus, your son has proved he is worthy of your aid, now come and hear his wish!" She and I said together in our minds, Zyanya connecting to Zeus and making sure he heard her order. I felt my mind connecting to someone else, someone definitely not human, and Zyanya had a quick talk with Zeus, happily leaving me out since I wasn't exactly a good negotiator, and from what Zyanya had told me, Zeus was a bit…touchy. When the presence of Zeus's mind faded, it was replaced with a metallic scent of a storm, darkness swallowing the sun. The giant froze, sensing it too.
"Hit the deck!" Jason shouted. Before either of us could tell if the others did so, the jolt of energy struck straight through us, straight through Enceladus, and into the ground. The giant's back stiffened, and I grabbed Jason's arm (or rather Zyanya did since my mind was buzzing too much to command my limbs to do anything) and jumped us clear. She had me launch to the side of the crater, a stream of light shooting from my hand to solidify into a pure white, long, sleek sword that jammed into the wall. When I looked down, the crater was cracking open, and I saw the lightning bolt had split the mountain itself. The earth rumbled and tore apart, and Enceladus's legs slid into the chasm. He clawed helplessly at the glassy sides of the pit, and just for a moment managed to hold on to the edge, his hands trembling, and looked to us with a glare of hatred.
"You've won nothing!" He declared. "My brothers are rising, and they are ten times as strong as I! We will destroy the gods at their roots! You will die, and Olympus will die with you! And you, goddess of Order, shall grow only weaker by the day and will be destroyed before you can accomplish your goal and stop it! Your so-called "friends" will find out who you really are, what you've done, that you plan to-!" I interrupted by opening my mouth and blasting a beam of energy at him, causing him to lose his grip and fall into the crevice. They'd never be allowed to know what Zyanya and I have done, they can't. If they find out…everything we're trying to do will be ruined.
With the giant gone, the chasm closed like and angry mouth, and the presence of Gaea left the ground. For now, she was gone. I swung Jason up and out of the chasm before hovering and pulling my sword out before flying up and joining the others. The mountainside was on fire, smoke billowing hundreds of feet into the air. I spotted a helicopter, maybe firefighters or reporters, and landed on the ground as they came towards us. All around us, there was carnage. The Earthborn had melted into piles of clay, leaving behind only their rock missiles and some nasty bits of loincloth, and construction equipment lay in ruins, the ground scarred and blackened.
Coach Hedge started to move, sitting up with a groan and rubbing his head. Seriously, how did he sleep through all that? His canary yellow pants were now the color of Dijon mustard mixed with mud, and he looked around at the battle scene. "Did I do this?" Before any of us could answered, he picked up his club and got shakily to his feet. "Yeah, you wanted some hoof? I gave you some hoof, cupcakes! Who's the goat, huh?" He did a little dance, kicking rocks and making rude satyr gestures at the piles of clay. Leo cracked a smile, and they Jason flat out laughed, Audrey and Emily joining him. Veon jumped to his feet smiling.
"Ha! We did it! Whoo!" He cheered and pumped his fist. His stupid grin and attitude made me smile too, before suddenly he tackled me with a hug. That would've been fine, and I would've even returned it too, if he hadn't also pressed his lips against mine and made me stiffen like a board in shock. He pulled back before I could fully process what was happening and confirm it was real, and he was still smiling like an idiot before he suddenly turned shocked as if he'd just realized what he'd done too. I must've looked like an idiot and staring at him like he was a monster, but I didn't care as my mind shut down and thought was impossible.
"Lucy," Zyanya urged, her mental form appearing in front of me, trying to stand in front of Veon and snap in front of my face. "Lucy? Goddess to Lucy, do you read me? Hello?! Snap out of it! Lucy!" She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side and I nearly tripped. Though she wasn't actually there, she could still manipulate me from the inside to mimic what I'd be doing if her image was real, kinda like that woman from Nim's Island - Alexandra, I think her name was. The act of being pulled and tripping snapped me out of my confusion, at least enough to speak.
"Y-Yeah. I-I…I'm just gonna…go over there. Yeah." I tried to take another step and walk to the side, but I nearly tripped again on my second step. He moved to catch me, but I pulled back away from his reach and Zyanya ended up having to catch me (ultimately making it look like I'd caught myself). "S-Sorry. I'm good. Just…I'm good." I felt my body temperature rising, and then stinging painfully and knew what was happening. No, dammit, not now! "Hey, Mr. McLean!" I turned towards Piper's father, standing across the clearing and staggering forward. His eyes were hollow, shell-shocked, like someone who'd just walked through a nuclear wasteland.
"Piper?" He called. His voice cracked. "Pipes, what - what is-?" He couldn't complete the thought, and Piper ran over to him, hugging him tightly, but he almost didn't seem to know her. He was panicking, the trauma overwhelming him after what had just happened. He was coming apart.
Then, I realized everyone had their attention on them and I quickly pulled a syringe out of the inner pocket of my jacket before turning away and stabbing the needle into my left upper arm. Just in time, too, because I was literally beginning to steam, and there was no way I could hide that from the others. My body was burning from the inside out, my skin beginning to glow slightly in small patches that were spreading. I pushed down the plunger and injected the dose slowly, feeling the cool and icy feeling spreading throughout my body. I stopped before I had given myself a full dose, as to avoid Zyanya's power being completely nullified and her sleeping, leaving me completely powerless, and only gave myself about a quarter. I slipped the syringe back into my pocket, feeling my body temperature returning to normal and the burning stop. I must've overexerted myself in that battle, and the lightning bolt didn't help. Yeah, that must've been what caused that. Yeah…
"We need to get out of here," Zyanya said, and I realized she'd taken over talking for me.
"But how?" Leo asked. "He's in no shape to walk." Audrey looked up and I followed her gaze to see the helicopter now circling directly overhead.
"Anyone got a bullhorn or something?" She asked. "Piper and Emily have some talking to do."