Happy Halloween! We're in the homestretch now guys! Only one more chapter after this. I'm so sad, my first fic down! But this has also been really amazing to write and I'm so thankful for all of you who followed, favorited, and reviewed! Thanks so much!
(Silena POV)
Running with a six-year-old on your back and a three-year-old on your hip was hard. Charlie somehow always made it look so easy whenever he was playing with the younger kids.
Her feet pounded on the pavement, pouring on as much speed as possible. They took a tight turn, barely slowing down. They all wanted out of there, the poorly lit underground had all of them feeling claustrophobic.
"Emily," Ethan said, breathlessly. He had Zoe on his shoulder while he carried Andre like a football, both kids bouncing in time with his steps. "How much longer till we're out of here?"
"We have two more right turns then a left turn. After that, we're home free." Emily gasped out.
Silena panted lightly. "Then let's get a move on."
Everyone sprinted faster, ignoring the burning in their legs that came from overworked muscles. They couldn't stop or slow down. If they did, there was no telling who might catch them. It didn't matter though, since as they took their first right turn they had to skid to a stop.
Standing in front of them were five hellhounds, blocking their path. Drool dripped from their muzzles, a loud growling sound encompassing the room as the four legacies stood in a tense silence, slowly lowering the children to the ground.
"Louis," Silena said lowly. "keep the younger ones right here."
The six-year-old nodded, stepping over to the others. Gabby and Gemma cuddled into each other while Zoe and Louis dragged the twins closer, hovering over their four youngest members.
Silena took a deep breath and walked forward, her three cousins right beside her. The hellhounds growled louder, stepping forward as the legacies got closer. Silena clapped her hands loudly, her rings turning into her signature daggers. The hounds leapt forward and attacked.
They were prepared for that.
Emily and Zack lunged for one hellhound, Zack drawing his sword while Emily took out her bow. Ethan engaged two other hellhounds, slashing and stabbing with his sword as he danced between the hellish dogs. Which left Silena with the last two.
She picked up speed before dropping to her knees, bending her back as she slid to avoid the hellhound that jumped for her. She got to her feet just in time to dive roll, avoiding her second hound. She shuffled backwards, eyeing the two dogs. They growled at her, stalking her every move.
She made a 'come here' motion. "Come get me, Fido."
They jumped for her. She ducked. They sailed over her head, landing behind her. An arrow came from her left, just barely missing the first hound. It gave her the distraction she needed to dive in and quickly dispatch the two dogs.
She let out a breath, brushing the hair that escaped her ponytail away from her face.
"You missed." Silena told Emily teasingly. Emily huffed.
"I was multitasking." Emily complained. "Still helped you out, didn't it?"
Ethan chuckled behind her as he sheathed his sword. "You still missed, Shortstack."
Emily didn't answer back, instead she just grumbled under her breath as they all situated the kids back into their previous positions. This time though, Ethan held both of the twins, bouncing on his toes as they babbled happily in their older brother's arms. Zoe was sat on Emily's back, the little girl clutching the twelve-year-old's shoulders. Zack held Gemma close while Silena had Louis piggyback style with Gabby on her hip.
"Everybody good?" Silena asked, glancing around the group. Everyone nodded. "Let's go."
Again they took off, jogging instead of flat out sprinting. Five minutes later they stumbled out of a door and into direct sunlight. The sudden brightness had Silena gasping in pain and blinking rapidly to get rid of the spots that decorated her vision.
"Gah!" Zack yelped loudly. "Bright! Why is it so bright?"
Silena's vision finally cleared. It actually wasn't that bright outside, the sun was in the process of going down, giving the group a beautiful view. Something in the distance made it even more beautiful.
"The Argo ll!" Emily said happily, hiking Zoe up further on her back.
Silena smiled for the first time in two days. "Let's go where they can see us."
OoOoOoOoOo
Leo was completely taken with Gabby. The moment the two-year-old saw her father, she had darted out of Silena's arms and into his, bursting into tears immediately.
It said a lot about Leo's fatherly instincts that he just picked her up and hugged her tightly, cooing at her the entire time. Zoe had demanded to be picked up by Frank, who had instantly complied, while Gemma and Louis appeared content to stay in their siblings' arms. The twins happily gurgled away as Hazel got passed Alejandro from Ethan, the daughter of Pluto smiling brightly at the little bundle in her arms.
Coach Hedge stared in shock at the sudden influx of children. "What did you cupcakes do?"
Silena and Ethan shared guilty looks. "You're gonna be pretty angry with us." Ethan warned.
Frank looked up from grinning at Zoe, giving the two an arched brow. "And why is that?"
Silena cleared her throat and started explaining. Throughout all of it, her 'audience' stayed quiet, all four adults staring at them in shock and rising anger. By the end of it, Frank looked ready to explode.
"Emily Marie! What were you thinking!" Frank yelled, glaring at his daughter. Emily cringed at the look, curling in on herself slightly. "You could've gotten yourself killed! That was a dumb move!"
"Frank!" Hazel snapped, putting her hand on distraught child's shoulder. "That's enough."
Frank looked at her in surprise. "But, Hazel, she- "
"I know what she did." Hazel said calmly. "But yelling and screaming at her isn't going to change anything."
They held their staring contest for a few seconds before Frank conceded, running his free hand through his short hair. Hazel sighed and ran her fingers through Emily's hair before gently taking hold of her chin, forcing her to look up at her.
"We'll talk more about this later." Hazel said sternly. "Right now though, we need to get to the others."
Emily nodded, crestfallen. Hazel gave her a small smile before turning her attention to Silena and Ethan. "Take the younger ones downstairs, get them settled in the mess hall. Feed them, take care of their injuries, then get back up here."
The duo gave a salute and starting hustling the kids along with Emily and Zack down the stairs, prying Gabby away from her dad. Once in the mess hall, they quickly gathered food together, the magic of the mess hall thankfully able to get bottles to appear for the twins. Zack and Ethan vanished down the hall to get the rooms set up for the kids to crash in while Silena went back down to the surface to meet Cythos. She had called for them while they had been running from Hugo and Atlas.
Cythos was waiting for her.
"She wasn't here." Cythos growled, anger showing through.
"Fuck," Silena swore. "Hugo and Atlas were here, why wasn't she?"
Cythos wasn't impressed with her reaction. "Seems we're still going to be partners for the foreseeable future. We didn't find your siblings in there."
"We have them." Silena informed her. "But we'll still try to find Payton for you."
Cythos seemed to relax once Silena reaffirmed their deal. "That's good that you found them. Do you wish us to take them now or at another point in time?"
Silena shook her head. "Not right now. They're way too scared to leave us now. Do you think we can meet up near the ocean later and give them to you?"
Her ally inclined her head. "Of course, just blow the conch shell again and we will arrive."
They parted ways, Cythos to her soldiers and Silena to her family. Silena floated herself up to the Argo ll, heavily incased in her thoughts.
OoOoOoOoOo
"You look like crap," Emily said.
Charlie glanced at her irritably as he bandaged his bicep. "Thanks, Pipsqueak."
Everyone but Annabeth was back on board, the younger kids were introduced to their parents while Zack and Gemma met with Nico. Nico had stared at them both in utter disbelief until Zack had shown off his powers. Nico had choked out a frantic denial before getting as far away as he could from the both of them without being off the ship.
Zack had simply clenched his jaw and hugged his sister, ignoring Nico while the son of Hades stared intently at him. Silena and Charlie had both winced in sympathy, feeling terrible for their cousins.
Lily had attacked her little sister with a hug before passing her off to Leo, who was refusing to put her down. Percy similarly had picked Zoe up and practically squeezed the life out of her, the five-year-old simply wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Jason and Piper had both smothered Louis in hugs, Jason currently holding the little boy on his hip.
"What do we now?" Zack asked, steadily keeping his eyes off his teenage father.
Percy glanced between the two, shaking his head slightly in disappointment at Nico. "Now we go get Annabeth, and get the hell out of Rome."
Leo nodded and went to the helm while everyone dispersed around the deck. Hazel went over to Nico and quietly began to talk, most likely about Zack and Gemma from what Silena could see. Frank wandered over to Leo and took Gabby from him so he could work the console, Frank smiling brightly at her. Percy joined Piper and Jason, Louis and Zoe still perched on their fathers' hips. Emily went over to Zack and Gemma while Ethan and Lily stood together, each holding a twin in their arms.
Finally after a little while Leo gave a cheer.
"There it is!" he cried, pointing at one of his monitors. "Frank, you're amazing! I'm setting course now!"
Frank shrugged, moving Gabby to sit on his shoulders. "I just read the name off the screen. Some Chinese tourist marked it on Google Maps."
Leo grinned at everybody. "He speaks Chinese."
"Just a little bit," Frank said, giving Leo an amused look.
"How cool is that?"
"Guys," Hazel cut in. "I hate to interrupt your admiration session, but you should hear this."
While everyone gathered around Nico and Hazel, Silena and Charlie slipped away. They walked downstairs, ducking into sick bay where they had stashed their bags. Charlie changed out of his T-shirt and into a tougher, black long-sleeved shirt, kicked off his converse and pulled on his black combat boots. Silena changed into one of her tougher tank tops, dark blue, and pulled on her own black combat boots.
They shouldered their packs and walked into the mess hall, stuffing sandwiches and bottled water into the backpacks. Finally, they walked back upstairs, their family none the wiser to their brief disappearance. She and Charlie settled against the railing, watching instead of participating in the conversation.
Charlie let out a long breath right beside her. "Leaving is gonna suck."
Silena nodded solemnly. "But we have to, to keep everybody safe."
Charlie gave a sad smile, his gaze heavy and hurting. "I know. We're going to be different when we get back, Lena. Tougher, colder. More traumatized than before."
"That's the price you pay," Silena whispered back, watching her parents interact with her little brother, "for loving people enough to go to hell and back for them."
Whoo! It's the end of the chapter! And honestly this was so hard to write. Not because of writer's block but because I'm so sad this first book is over. I mean the next chapter I post is it, first book done. It's bittersweet, you know? How do you guys feel about it?
Anyway, I hope you liked it and I'll see you next chapter!
Comic out!
EspeonAuraGirl55- Nothing is ever easy for this family, they should know better. Did you really think one of Payton's lieutenants to be incapable in combat? Mr. D is a Grade A jerk and nothing will ever change that. Thanks, I hope this one lived up to the hype!
aaquater- I told you, Payton is scarily smart. She has all kinds of things planned for the Kids. I like to think that when it comes to fashion the Aphrodite kids are somehow able to wear 'fashionable things' no matter what the weather is. The Seven have been parents for a little while now, they're bound to pick something up. Thanks for catching my typo. Again.
RosettaQueen20- Thank you, thank you, and thank you!
emenem3211- I know, I'm good at cliffhangers, aren't I? Thanks!