Chapter Twenty: Stormy

JustAnotherFanGirl2004: I actually also found that scene funny! And I did try to mix in more demigods than in True Hearts Day. And I've always been a Briar x Hopper fan, so they'll have more moments.

JustAnotherFanGirl2004: I love Darling and wanted to make her less proper than she is in the show. Even the character who was supposed to be a knight acts fancy and like a lady.

"I don't get it," Amanda said, rifling through her notes.

"Me neither," Michel frowned.

"Look, you just have to do this..." Izzy said, drawing a few figures on Michel's paper.

"Izzy, you are the only one that understands this," Kyle said.

The others kept talking, but Zoe didn't seem to hear it. Their voices sounded far away. She stared out the window at the dark forest. The sounds of all the people in the hall faded away and all she heard was the rain pattering down on the roof and windows. It was such a calming sound, and always had been since the storm that happened when she was seven years old.

...

The thunder struck again and all the kids screamed. They were hiding in the bottom bunk of the triple bunk bed in Amanda's room. They'd draped blankets over the front and sides to create a blanket fort and were all huddled together.

"I think I hear the monster," Amanda said in a creepy voice. As if on cue, the thunder struck again and some branches scratched on the window. The kids all screamed and Alex yelled, "Stop!"

"What are you gonna do about it?" Amanda asked with a playful smile.

Alex didn't say anything but just tackled the brown-haired girl. The bed was filled with shrieks of joy as the others joined in. But they were all silenced when thunder boomed again, louder than before. They all screamed and huddled even closer together.

"Why is your uncle so angry?" Jacob whispered.

"I don't know," Amanda said.

"I do," Kyle whispered. They all turned to him.

"You didn't tell me!" Alex said accusingly.

Kyle shrugged. "I didn't think it was important. I was just hiding under the table when I heard Uncle Hades and Uncle Zeus arguing. Uncle Zeus was telling something to Uncle Hades about someone being too powerful. Uncle Hades told him she could be trained, she wasn't a danger. I think Uncle Zeus is angry now."

Eve pouted. "I don't like when our family fights. They act mean, and I don't like mean."

"No one does," Izzy pointed out in her "always-logical-about-everything" way.

"Well, they might act mean, but we are also family. And we are not mean," Amanda said, looking at her friends with a perfectly sincere smile. She held out on hand. "We will stick together forever. Promise."

The others all repeated the word and out their hands on top of hers. The special word seemed to echo in the air. They were so happy and at peace, they hardly noticed the storm. After all, they were family.

Family.

...

"Zoe Dawn! Earth to Zoe!" Raven said, snapping her fingers in front of Zoe's face. The daughter of Aphrodite started and blinked.

"Sorry, what?" she asked.

"I was just asking if you would like to join us for some studying," Raven said.

Zoe shook her head, her mind still far away. "No thanks," she said. "I think I'll just go to my dorm. Enjoy the storm."

"So ahead, Stormy," Eve said, using Zoe's old nickname. She'd named her that because of her love of storms, and because in very bright light her hair looked the black of storm clouds.

Zoe was about to walk off when - suddenly - a thought struck her. She hadn't thought about that night directly in ages, and until now hadn't realized something was wrong. At first, she couldn't place it. Then, she realized what was troubling her.

"Amanda..." she said slowly. "You remember that night when we were little? The one with the storm."

"How could I forget?" Amanda said with a grin.

"Well, why did you have a triple bunk bed?" Zoe said. The others all turned to Amanda. What is it just Zoe, or did her skin get paler? Her eyes widen?

She just smiled. "I don't really know. All little kids like bunk beds. Maybe I just wanted to play using the top bunk. Or maybe it was where I stored my toys. You know I loved those plushies."

Zoe nodded and the others also did. It made sense, but something still seemed off to Zoe. She decided to brush those thoughts away and just shrugged. "I was just wondering. Anyways, I'm going. Bye." She waved and walked away.

When Zoe got to her room, she stared out the window. Ever since that night, the rain had always given her a sense of calmness unlike nothing else. She'd always liked the rain and felt a special connection to it. Her dad said that was because she'd been born on a rainy night. When she asked him how he knew, he said, "Fathers intuition" with a laugh. She smiled at the memory. She missed her father. All of a sudden, she had an idea.

Zoe walked over to Kyle's room. He had a fountain for Iris Messages in there, and had told the demigods they were free to use it whenever they wanted. She took out a drachma and threw it into the rainbow spray.

" 'Oh goddess, accept my offering,' " she said. "Oliver Dawn - Olympus."

A moment later, her father's face appeared in the mist.

"Zoe!" he exclaimed.

"Dad! I have so much to tell you!"

"I. Want. To. Die," Kyle said, banging his head against the table. They'd been studying for an hour, and were all exhausted.

"It can't be that bad," Eve argued.

"Oh yeah? You aren't the one she's making study for a math test," he responded.

"I like math," Amanda said.

"C'mon Izzy! Let us take a break!" Kyle begged, actually getting down on his knees in front of Izzy and clasping his hands. "I'll do anything - anything! - to end this torture!" He fainted dramatically.

"Fine. Only cause you're a big baby," she teased.

The others all sighed in relief.

"I brought cookies!" Amanda said cheerfully, showing them the bag she had with her. "I had a feeling we would need energy."

"I don't get why you guys don't just like to study," Izzy said, even though she was taking a bite of a cookie. "Education is important."

"But so is fun," Eve said, resting a hand on Izzy's knee. "You gotta loosen up. And you can start by taking a break from studying tomorrow, and going on a picnic with us." She glanced at the rain outside the window. "If the weather clears up," she added.

The others laughed. "Zoe must love the rain. She'd probably go swimming in it." They all looked up as though they had an idea.

"When did you think of this?" Zoe asked, laughing as Eve dragged her through the forest.

"Doesn't matter - come on!"

They arrived at the lake, where the others were already swimming. Zoe laughed and turned to Eve.

"One," she said.

"Two," Eve said.

"Three!" they both yelled and jumped in. Soon, Kyle got up and was about to jump in when he felt as though something was watching him. He turned and froze. There was a shadow figure watching him. He just stared at it, and it looked back. The spell was broken when Zoe yelled, "Hey Aquaman! Are you coming in or not?"

Kyle turned back to her and laughed, jumping in. The water splashed more than was normal for a cannonball, but after all, who ever mistook a demigod for normal?

But when he turned back to where the shadow had been, he saw it was gone. He turned back to his friends, trying to tell himself he imagined it. But he couldn't keep away the feeling that danger was coming.

I can't wait to write more! I'm getting kind of impatient though. I have to make all my main characters see the shadow figure, and I still have seven more people. I'm thinking about not putting that in anymore, so just imagine that the others all see the shadow figure sometime between the cracks of the next chapters until the story really starts.

-Creator of Magic