Super Apologetic Author's Note:
I am so sorry that I haven't put up a new chapter in so long. I kept meaning to write, but there were not enough hours in the day and my motivation to write was at an all-time low. So, in seeking retribution for my transgression, I have put up an extra long chapter. Almost 4k words! This chapter finishes up the flashback from Aubrey's perspective that covers what Grace is telling Nico. So, the next chapter will most likely cover Nico's reaction to what Grace told him and then the story will continue on. Also, general disclaimer that I forgot to put in the previous chapter: Aubrey choosing to ignore the healthy coping skills she was given by her therapist is not something I personally believe in or recommend. Also, Aubrey being more susceptible to anger from the car wreck she was in is in no way, shape, form, part of her curse. I meant to put these at the end of chapter 7, but I forgot. *Cue a good old fashioned 'I can't believe I forgot that' face* I hope that you enjoy the chapter, and please don't be shy, and review if possible. Hearing people's feedback is always welcomed, and I'd love to know what you think!
Chapter 8:
As it turned out, a few moments lasted only three seconds. Aubrey heard the snapping of something, what it was she didn't know, but she had the feeling that whatever it was would turn out to be problematic. In her short, yet no less personal experience, if a demigod heard an unidentified sound, it typically ended with a couple of injuries and more than enough new enemies. Standing up quietly, Aubrey brushed the leaves off of her waist, and mentally cursed the her from that morning. Past Aubrey had decided to forgo practicality, and had chosen to wear the heeled boots that she received on her last birthday; a decision that Present Aubrey was now regretting. She chuckled to herself, remembering the conversation she and Caleb had had that morning.
Aubrey sat on the motel bed, her suitcase in her lap. Two pairs of shoes faced her. One was a pair of sturdy combat boots; her half-sister Clarisse, in an uncharacteristic moment of sisterliness, had given them to her before she left camp, promising her that if she ever needed to, those boots were great for 'crushing her enemies' skulls, and that Clarisse herself had done so more than a couple times. Aubrey appreciated the thought, even though she preferred stabbing to crushing. The other shoes were a pair of grey suede boots, and they happened to be Aubrey's favorite pair of shoes. In her heart of hearts, she knew what she needed to do. Aubrey sighed in defeat before taking out her precious pair of footwear and sliding them on over her socks.
She had just zipped the shoes shut when Caleb entered the room, his hair dripping from his shower, and his eyes fluttering open and closed furiously in an attempt to blink the sleep from them. Caleb eyed her shoes and gave Aubrey the look Grace had dubbed his 'confused puppy look' earlier on their journey. "Why are you wearing heels?" Caleb asked, covering his mouth with a yawn. Aubrey looked down at her feet, answering, "Why not?" "Because we're going into a supposedly haunted woods; you know, the woods, laden with dirt, grass, leaves, and uneven terrain." Caleb paused a moment, another yawn escaping him as he made his way over to the motel room's tiny coffee maker. "I mean, call me crazy," Caleb continued, "But don't you think that might backfire on you?" Aubrey thought about that for a moment; then, shrugging her shoulders, replied, "I'll be fine." Caleb shook his head in response, and mumbled something under his breath, too low for Aubrey to hear, though she thought she heard the words 'impractical', and 'it doesn't make sense'.
Grace came in a few minutes later, having been sitting out on the motel room's balcony. Taking a look at Aubrey's shoes herself, Grace smiled in approval; "Loving the shoes, Aubrey." Aubrey shot Caleb a triumphant grin, and slung her arm around Grace. "See, Caleb" she pointed out, "Grace agrees with me." Caleb sat down on the bed opposite the girls and ran his fingers through messy hair, successfully flinging several drops of water around the room, including on Aubrey and Grace. "But…they're heels!" He sputtered, "Heels aren't meant to be worn on uneven terrain." "How do you know?" Aubrey countered, "Have you ever worn heels in the woods?" At this, Caleb put his head in his hands and shook his head once again; Aubrey noticed that the shaking of his cranium was quickly becoming something he did often when with her and Grace. "Besides," Grace chimed in, "Aubrey's only other pair of shoes are the combat boots, aka the 'soul crushers'." At this, Caleb lifted his face out of his hands, looking more confused than ever. "But," he started, gesturing to Grace's feet, "you wear combat boots; you like them." Aubrey watched Grace mull over Caleb's words. "Well, yeah, I do." Grace allowed, "But I prefer my boots to not have what could very possibly be human blood on the soles."
Caleb made a disgusted noise before his patented look of confusion turned back to one of worry. "But, Aubrey," Caleb stated, "You could hurt yourself!" Aubrey smiled at Caleb's concern. One thing she had learned about Caleb in the few weeks she had known him was that he hated the idea of seeing people get hurt. Aubrey knew that his concern over her shoes weren't coming from a place of condescension, but from a genuine worry of seeing someone he knew be in pain. Because of this, Aubrey tried to put him at ease. "Caleb, really, I'll be okay." She reassured, "Besides, I've had these beauties for a while now, and I haven't hurt myself yet; and that's saying something from a girl who took them on a field trip to a mountain," she added after a second, "Though I would not recommend rock climbing with these." Her decision made, Aubrey stood to open the door, and the three half-bloods left the motel in search of the creature in the woods that would either help or hurt their quest.
Looking back on it, Aubrey wished she had listened to Caleb instead of Grace. Logically, she knew that shoes with heels were a terrible idea when doing anything that was physically demanding, but they made her feel pretty, and after she realized that she might be the reason that the universe would be destroyed, Aubrey wanted to feel somewhat normal, and wearing fun shoes was a part of that for her, practicality be damned.
At least you chose to wear shorts, Aubrey told herself, Can you imagine what would happen if you wore a skirt and left your hair down? Aubrey wistfully took one last look at the clearing she had found before moving silently toward the sound, which she sincerely hoped came from Grace, Caleb, or, even better, Milton, their protector, who had said the night before that he would meet up with them. Aubrey had a soft spot for the satyr, who was nothing short of a miracle in her mind. Milton was super patient with all of them, never getting annoyed at what Aubrey was sure Milton and everybody else who was experienced at Camp Half-Blood thought were incessant questions. The thoughtfulness he showed in regards to each of his charges and their respective needs made Aubrey think of her brother; well, her brother from the part of her life she had dubbed as the Prologue. Shaking her head to clear her mind, Aubrey continued walking. Stop getting distracted; you have a job to do.
As Aubrey moved toward the mystery sound, she saw something flit out of the corner of her eye, something with arms that looked ready to grab her. Her instincts taking over, Aubrey reacted, throwing out the hand which grasped her dagger, and, thanks to having fighting skills that came from the Greek god of war himself, Aubrey had her assailant pinned against a Douglas fir tree in a matter of minutes. After allowing herself a moment of pride over her Buffy the Vampire Slayer-like reflexes, Aubrey faced her mark.
Her mark turned out to be Caleb, who stared at her in shock, his eyes widened in fear. Aubrey immediately pulled back, releasing Caleb, who in turn sat down hard on the dirt, panting and shaking ever so slightly. "Caleb," Aubrey exclaimed, "You scared the crap out of me." Caleb looked at her incredulously, "I scared you!? You attacked me, and I scared you?!" Aubrey shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "Sorry," she apologized. Aubrey helped Caleb up and the two began walking, though Aubrey wasn't exactly sure what their destination was. "I heard something, and went to see what it was." She explained; "Then I saw you out of my peripheral vision and just acted on instinct; sorry, Caleb." "It's totally okay, Aubrey," Caleb replied good-naturedly, "At least now we know you're prepared for anything." Aubrey was grateful for Caleb's quick forgiveness, and tried to put her mind at ease. She was worried that one of these days, her instincts combine with her anger would result in a deadly combination, and that the collateral damage wouldn't be a monster.
"Thank you, Caleb," Aubrey said, avoiding eye contact with the boy; "For you and Grace being cool with my walking away for a bit. I just…needed a break." She finished, feeling as though she were admitting some big sin. Caleb smiled down at her, assuring Aubrey that she had nothing to worry about, and his sense of camaraderie was so infectious that Aubrey felt her worry dissipate. "So," Caleb began, changing the subject, "How are the shoes holding up?" Aubrey groaned in response, to which Caleb laughed and commented that he knew it.
They found Grace a few minutes later, and the three continued picking their way through the brush; neither Grace nor Caleb mentioned Aubrey's leaving, and for that she was grateful. In fact, with all three of them talking and laughing, Aubrey actually felt happy, a feeling that was quickly becoming rare for her since starting their quest. No, scratch that, since arriving at camp. While Aubrey was pleased that fighting was practically mandatory, and that nobody questioned her when she got pissed off because everybody just chalked it up to her being a daughter of Ares, she felt isolated from her newfound siblings; she was pretty different from them. Most of her fellow half-siblings found their physical capabilities and prowess when it came to battle an amazing thing; it was a point of pride for them. As for her, well, it was a point of shame. Because while Aubrey loved kickboxing and sparring as much as the next child of Ares, her abilities matched with her being more susceptible to anger than the average person left her feeling like a liability; she had been told she was just that by her teachers more than enough times, so Aubrey felt like she had ample proof to validate that feeling.
As they moved carefully through the overgrown vegetation, Aubrey heard that same crackling she had noticed before, except this time both Grace and Caleb were with her. Grace had heard it too, and stopped what she was doing. "Do you guys hear that?" She asked. The noise came again, this time sounding louder, and louder meant closer. Caleb turned to face the direction of the noise before saying in a lowered voice, "I heard that earlier, but when I found Aubrey, I just assumed it had been her." He glanced at Aubrey, "Did you hear it at all earlier or…" Caleb's voiced trailed off. Aubrey felt something tighten in her chest, the hair on the back of her neck standing straight up. "I heard the same thing," Aubrey blew out a long breath, adding, "But I thought it was you." Palm-smacking her forehead, something dawned on her. If she and Caleb both heard it before finding one another, and they both figured it was the other person, and Grace had no clue, and then the three of them moved away from the sound, and now they were all hearing it close to them, then that meant only one thing. They had most likely been tracked by whatever was causing that crackling sound, and chances were that she, Grace, and Caleb had walked right into its trap.
Before she could inform the others of her hunch, the crackling grew louder, and before she could blink, a blinding flash of light appeared, and Aubrey thought for second that she just became blind. It was like looking at the sun through a magnifying glass times a thousand. Aubrey covered her eyes, but the light still seared her eyelids. She briefly remembered the time in fifth grade when she forgot to put on sunscreen and burned so badly that when her mother tried to put on aloe the next day, the skin on her shoulders had practically sloughed off. The beam of what Aubrey was sure counted as pure sunlight gradually subsided, and in its place was a woman. The woman in question was of average height and had Greek features. Big, dark eyes set above a large mouth, and an olive complexion; her black hair was coarse, and most of it was covered by a hat that looked like the head of a dog.
Aubrey's eyes darted around and to her relief; both Grace and Caleb were standing next to her, looking at the woman before them through squinted eyes themselves. She felt momentarily at peace, knowing that she hadn't been the only person to experience the temporary blindness; that feeling was then replaced with fear, because she wasn't the only person to see what had just happened.
Aubrey didn't recognize the woman, though she had no doubt that they had just run into some sort of Greek being of importance, and decided that it was better to wait and say nothing, rather than unintentionally insult someone who was probably fully capable of turning her into a worm. Luckily, Aubrey didn't have to wait long before the woman spoke. "Hello," she spoke with a Greek accent, and Aubrey didn't know if the resignation in the woman's tone was a good thing or a bad thing; she didn't know if she wanted to find out, either. Caleb, however, had no such qualms and replied, "Hi," he smiled hesitantly, "Are you lost? Can we help you?" The woman's expression became amused, if not slightly perplexed by Caleb's inquiry. "No, I am not lost." she answered, "What you can do is tell me who you are, and if you know who I am." She paused before continuing, "I'm looking for someone and I think it might be one of you."
At her request, Aubrey, Grace, and Caleb all glanced at each other. On the one hand, none of them wanted to let this woman know who they were in case she was dangerous and tried to kill them; on the other hand, if she was dangerous and they didn't give her what she wanted, she might kill them anyway, which would defeat the purpose of not telling her who they were in the first place. Aubrey decided to take her chances, not knowing what she was about to get into. Clearing her throat, Aubrey spoke. "Should we know who you are?" She winced as she said this, but Aubrey wanted to gauge whether or not the female would be angry if they didn't know. The woman considered this. "Probably not," she admitted, "Though I have no doubt that you have heard of me before, of course, not in a way one would immediately recognize." Aubrey suppressed a groan. She hated riddles, and if this turned out to be a riddle that would determine if they'd be allowed to live, she was dead.
Grace must have wondered the same thing, because she asked the question Aubrey herself had been about to ask. "You're a person from a Greek myth, right?" The woman nodded her head; "Correct. In fact, I am a goddess." Grace then asked, "Could you give us a hint or something? Because I'm crap at guessing games and I failed history this year." The goddess before the three actually laughed and replied, "Consider the story of Heracles, and why he had to complete what historians call the Heroic Labours of Heracles." Almost simultaneously, Aubrey and Grace looked at Caleb. The son of Demeter hadn't failed history like Grace, and unlike Aubrey, he had the patience to read old ancient mythology, and actually retain the information.
Caleb was quiet for a moment; a moment that felt more like an hour rather than a minute. "Hera made Heracles go insane and kill his wife and children," Caleb stated, "But you're not Hera, so I don't understand." The goddess sighed, as though she got this a lot. "Hera instructed her handmaiden, the goddess Iris, to order me to cause Heracles' insanity." Caleb's eyes grew wider than Aubrey had ever seen them, and what he said next caused her heart to sink so low that if a surgeon opened her up right then and there, the doctor would find her heart lying left of her large intestine. "You're Lyssa." He said quietly, "The goddess of rage and crazed fury, though you were around prior to the Olympians." He turned to face Grace and Aubrey, who looked and felt like she had just seen Death himself. "Lyssa can also cause insanity and rage to befall mortals as well as other deities, and she controls rabies in animals." Turning back to face Lyssa, he stammered out, "But, you only do that when necessary; you don't enjoy turning friends against one another, and you tried to get out of driving Heracles mad."
Lyssa nodded and when she spoke, Aubrey suddenly realized that the goddess didn't sound resigned because she was used to people not knowing her, but because she had to punish someone and didn't want to do it. "I need to know who you three are, and whether or not one of you is the person I have been told to-" Aubrey felt her blood boil, and, though she pitied the woman for being forced to drive undeserving people to enraged insanity, couldn't stop herself from spitting out, "And what if we don't, huh?" Aubrey asked, "Are you going to condemn us to insanity and watch us kill each other? Because we're all friends, and if you're so powerful and hate making friends turn to foes so much, then are you going to anyway?" Lyssa's mouth went into a flat line, her eyes flashing with anger. Aubrey immediately regretted bringing the woman's power into question and braced herself for her new life as a worm. Maybe wormdom wouldn't be so bad. At least she wouldn't have to worry about the prophesy.
"Aforementioned, child," Lyssa hissed, "Although I existed before the Olympians came to be, I am still considered a minor goddess, and I am unable to resist if forced by a higher power. I don't enjoy using my power unless there is no other option, but prophesies cannot be avoided, and I am afraid that if one tries to avoid it, the prophesy will come to pass in a manner much worse than it would have otherwise." Aubrey's heart leapt into her throat before plummeting down into her stomach again. She remembered what the prophesy had said, and she knew that it was beginning. They all knew that it was starting soon, what with all of the monster attacks, and she, Grace and Caleb were all aware that Milton had been trying to keep them safe, but he needed to find them a new place, which was why they had been at the motel. They were waiting for Nico di Angelo to get them, and take them to the Underworld while they attempted to decipher the prophesy. The three half-bloods had already started working on it, and had heard about these woods that were supposedly haunted by some sort of being, and so they went to find this being, because the prophesy had mentioned something about a mysterious figure who might be able to make parts of the prophesy understood.
In that moment, Aubrey understood. One of them was the person Lyssa had been instructed to drive insane, and that would be the beginning of the prophesy; and from what she knew from the prophesy regarding a slave to anger, Aubrey knew that she was that person. Aubrey stood up as straight as possible. "My name is Aubrey Sinclair; I am a daughter of Ares. And," She took a deep breath, "I believe that I'm the person you're looking for." She ignored the horrified looks on her friend's faces and stepped forward in front of the goddess. Lyssa's expression was pained and she put a hand on Aubrey's shoulder. "You are." She answered. "I apologize for what will happen to you, and may mercy be rewarded to you, for you are nothing less than innocent, and do not deserve a fate such as the fate of Heracles." Aubrey nodded her head and before she had time to process what was about to happen to her, another flash of light appeared; this one lasting longer than its predecessor, and the goddess Lyssa was gone, the only indication that she had been there in the first place lied in the three demigod's memories.
Aubrey blinked the spots out of her eyes and, when she could see again, was met with the look of straight terror on Caleb's face, and the look of absolute anger on Grace's. "What did you just do?!" Grace exclaimed. "You just let a goddess curse you, that's what!" Grace's chin trembled and Aubrey dropped her head in shame. While she had felt brave in the moment, she was now terrified. What's more, she didn't even know what her curse was. "What was I supposed to do?" Aubrey asked. Grace sat down in the dirt, her shaking hands pulling up the grass surrounding them. "I don't know," she admitted in defeat. "Are you okay? I mean," Grace sniffled, "Do you feel any different?" Aubrey blinked again, and sat down next to her friend. "Not really," she answered, "Mostly I just feel a sense of foreboding, but if I'm being completely honest, I've been feeling that way since we left the motel this morning." She heard the leaves rustle next to her and saw that Caleb had also sat down with the girls. "You shouldn't have told her who you were." Aubrey sighed, "Well, what else should I have done?" she asked Caleb. "Let one of you say you were me and get cursed yourself?" Caleb thought about her words before telling her, "Yes, that. You should've let me get cursed." In spite of what had just transpired, Aubrey found herself giggling. "Oh, yeah," she agreed, "You totally look like an 'Aubrey', Caleb." At that, the three all burst into laughter, and Aubrey was thankful for the minute of reprieve.
Aubrey quickly grew serious, as something occurred to her. "Wait," she began, "I'm not insane from rage or anything right now, though. What does that mean, then? Is it going to come later or what? What's going to happen?" Caleb shrugged his shoulders and stood up, pulling Grace to her feet after him. "I honestly don't know," he said, his voiced laced with an apologetic tone. "Lyssa isn't mentioned much in Greek history." Aubrey sighed and got to her feet. "Well, I guess I'll find out when the time comes." Grace nodded her head and reassured Aubrey. "Well, when it does," she promised, "Caleb and I will help you." Aubrey felt surprise and then happiness flood her. She had been afraid that they would turn her away, and instead, they were going to help her.
Telling them as much, she then added, "But I need you two to promise me something." Grace and Caleb both looked at her, their faces almost twin-like in their solemnness. "If something happens and I try to kill you or anyone else, I'm going to need you to do whatever needs to be done. I'd rather be killed than kill, okay?" Aubrey got both of them to promise, though she sensed their hope that it would never come to that. After what had happened to her brother, Aubrey knew better than to hope, but she allowed herself to anyway. Maybe you can make it through this, she thought. Maybe it won't be as bad as the story of Heracles. However, when they figured out what the curse did the next night, Aubrey knew that the hope they all had was futile, and that when the part of the prophesy regarding "Anger's Slave" and whether or the world would need saving because of it came to pass, she wouldn't be so lucky.