Here Comes The Sun
There were many, many words I could have used to describe how I felt about Èmile right now. Two things stopped me; Tetsu's presence, and the fact that every time I tried to say one of them he would stare back and I would falter. Why must Aphrodite children appear so beautiful and handsome, curses! So I kept silent on the way out from Nashville, aside from a few suggestions and comments.
Such as using the walkman Terpsichore had offered us. The Muse had given it while saying it would bring along a steed. I imagined a horse or a magical car. Or even a bull, who knew honestly? All in all, Terpsichore gave it to us in the hopes that it would help.
So when Èmile blew off the idea of ever using it? Understandably, I flipped.
"She gave it to us, for a reason!" I shouted ahead, stomping along the highway. Èmile held his thumb out again for a hitch-hiker while Tetsu remained back.
"And like I said before, every, single, gift from a god or a powerful being has a down side!" he shouted back, before shouting a Greek slur at a passing truck.
Ever since we left the hotel with our backpacks, it had been a back and forth of this argument, then silence for a while. Then the argument again. My legs ached, my thigh was still sore from the vrykolakas and we were all weary from our fight. I would do anything for a mighty steed.
"Why?! What could be sooo bad about a steed?!"
"Well, let's see here" Èmile started, counting off his hand, "Mares of Diomedes. They eat people. There's bulls in mythology, which you don't want to call either. Ares has fire breathing horses, there are horses made of wind and some made of water. There is not much water here!"
He made a good point. Half were inaccessible. The other half would try to eat us or barbecue us. I sighed, holding the walkman in my hand. It's red and yellow colouring matched the sky's dawn.
"We should give it a shot still. Terpsichore, she gave it-"
"Don't care! We got our own ways, thanks!"
I stared after him in utter disbelief. So he was so eager to simply throw aside some help? And how he acted to Terpsichore.
The walkman felt warm in my hand. That button was awfully tempting under my thumb. Then my impulsive nature took on the challenge.
A click sounded out, as I glared at Èmile as if daring him to say something. He heard it, turning back to me.
For a moment, there was nothing save for...music.
It played Here Comes The Sun, except in Greek. I don't know how I could understand it was Greek, as I heard it normally. But I slowly came to understand that the lyrics had been changed.
A few words repeated in Greek, that didn't automatically translate. Terpsichores voice rang out in the chill air, Tetsu was swaying to the movement. I soon was too.
And then...and then the song ended. I glanced down at the walkman. The tape ended and the button pushed out.
No one said a word. No steed arrived. I felt proven a fool, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Of course, of course I was wrong. Why could I be-
"Hey...what's that?" Tetsu asked. We both turned to the younger demigod to see him pointing over the horizon. All three of us stared. A glint shined in the distance...it was glowing, like fire. I shivered as it grew, a sudden glowing warmth filling me as if the sun itself was crashing down upon us, not that it hurt. It was growing fast...no, it wasn't growing. It's getting closer.
We quickly readied ourselves. I could wait to hear Èmile's 'I told you so." We were in for a fight.
The glow grew brighter. Yet I could see just fine. The others I noticed were squinting, raising their arms to shield their eyes.
A faint thump in the distance followed, the air sizzling around us. It must have been the fire breathing horse. I had doomed us, for sure.
Only, until it stopped. It was not a fire breathing horse. It was a horse completely on fire!
It appeared in a flash before us, stamping its hooves at the dirt with a loud roaring neigh. I felt the heat, yet felt unaffected. The other two staggered.
"What...what is this?!" I heard Èmile call out. But I was too enamored by the beast before me.
The glow died down. A mane of flaming orange ran down its neck, ever changing in shades, the very same colours of the dawn. It's eyes blazed furiously, yet held a certain calmness staring upon me. It's coat was a cool yellow, blindingly bright yet my eyes did not burn. It almost reminded me of that Pokemon one of the foster kids talked about endlessly. Upon its back was a large red saddle. A warmth radiated from the horse, the cold air steaming around it's body and nostrils.
Èmile and Tetsu finally lowered their arms, blinking their eyes to readjust to the shining horse. They still had to squint. The horse approached me, nudging at my hand which opened to accept the gesture. The horses snout felt hot against my palm. Invigorating. It whinnied, shaking its mane.
Tetsu approached the side, noticing a name along one of the reigns of the saddle, trying to read it.
"E...Eous" he said.
Èmile frowned, looking the horse over.
"I've...I've heard the name before. But I can't remember from where."
"He's friendly" Tetsu said when the horse nudged him. I laughed with the younger demigod, stroking along the side of the horses neck. Last time I was this close to a horse, one of my foster families had brought me with them to a farm. The horses were more friendly than the rest of the animals.
"Eous" I echoed, patting the horse's side. The horse leaned his head to the ground, snorting up dirt.
The fiery steed welcomed our touch to his hide. Tetsu seemed gleeful seeing the horse, I was more just as shocked as Èmile. A thought came to mind, of what he had said and I took a few steps back. Èmile had mentioned dangerous horses of myth, so I shot him a cautious glance, as if to ask if this one was all right. The shrug didn't help my confidence, the horse took that step for me by nudging my hand with his muzzle.
He isn't so bad, I thought, stroking a hand up his snout. My eyes wandered to the saddle. It could take all three of us. But, I had seen how fast it appeared. We would surely burn up. It would be like re-entering the atmosphere at Mach 20. Having a mom who loved space, you learn a few things.
"We can ride him! Right?" Tetsu asked, seemingly reading all our minds.
Èmile was most unsure of the three of us, circling the horse. Maybe looking for a hidden sword, or a kind of boobytrap. The horse had been nice enough, and suddenly I remembered how on my nerves Èmile was. I went over and helped the younger demigod up before any argument could be made.
I was next, pulling myself up and over into the front. With a big grin, I looked down at Èmile. He glared back, got himself up. Right in front of me, pushing me and Tetsu back.
"Hey-"
"Have you ever ridden a horse?"
"...No. Have you?" I asked, frowning. He faced forward, gripping the reigns.
"Yes. And a pegasus too." Before I could make any comment on the fact that pegasi were real, he whipped at the reigns. We shot forward.
My face felt hot on the way. Whether it was by the fact I was gripping the waist of this handsome, insufferable guy in front of me or the speed our horse was going, I wasn't too sure. I tried not to think about it too much. Tetsu gripped tight onto my pack, shrieking in joy. Or maybe fear. Sounded like joy. That was also when he wasn't choking on my hair that flew in his face.
Eous shot across the landscape, Tennessee becoming a blur. I felt sorry for whatever police scanned his speed, it would probably blow up their scanner. And yet, we weren't a few demigod steaks. The horse either had a kind of magic about it or it was going at just the right speed to not make us crisp.
"So...ready to thank Terpsichore yet?!" I called out over the rushing wind.
He glared back at me. I needed to know what his deal was. Whatever caused him to be so upset with her without reason, I needed to know it.
"Why? Why are you so mad at her? She gave us a horse! The fastest horse!"
"It's not the fastest...I think" he said back. I noticed his dodging of the question and dug a few fingers into his side, earning another subtle glare. He looked like he had sighed.
"My mother, Aphrodite. She sent me on a quest once, with a couple of other campers. A son of Ares, and a daughter of Apollo. A great fighter and a great archer. And me, the pretty face with a nice voice. We don't have a very good reputation as fighters, or healers. We talk others out of doing things, some manipulate. Or we try to look beautiful, handsome, and make everyone else good looking."
Aphrodite, the Goddess of beauty and love. It kind of made sense, but he said they weren't good fighters. I had to doubt that.
"You wasted those monsters. I beg to differ" I said back. He smirked a little.
"After the quest...I aimed to fight better. Prove I was not just a pretty face. I had to...but gods? And anyone else like them? Let's...let's just say a gift I got on that quest did more harm than good."
I had not seen that since I first met him; pain. There was a deep pain in his expression. I knew it would only lead to an argument or something if I pushed, so I kept off that.
Instead I thought for a moment, about gifts. The gift given by his sister, I had forgotten her name but up until now it had not come to mind. Once the horse stops, what better time to open it?
"Where are we going?!" Tetsu yelled from the back. Èmile shrugged.
"I put the horse in our goals direction" Èmile said in response, looking back to the young demigod,
"Somewhere north west."
"North west of Nashville...Nebraska? Iowa? Maybe even Minnesota-"
"No, that's too far north. Unless the horse takes a detour, we should still be on track."
Above, the sun had reached high up. When had time moved so quickly? A few hours of riding yet I did not feel sore at all.
I also did not know where in America we were. If we had left Tennessee a few hours ago, what state were we in? One thing for sure, it was getting colder. While the heat of the horse barely bothered me, the cold certainly did.
Clouds closed over the sky above. Eous felt cooler to the touch, his warm glow beginning to fade away as the sun above was covered.
And I wasn't the only one who took notice. Èmile pulled back on the reigns, trying to slow the horse. Yet it continued moving on fast. If this horse wasn't going to slow, then was it going to stop? Now, now was the time for panic.
"Is it snowing guys? Or is it just me?" Tetsu asked from behind, holding his arm out. It most definitely wasn't just him. Where did the horse take us?
"Eous! Eous, stop!" Èmile called out, but he was ignored. "Heel! Woah! Freeze!"
Cold air steamed from the horses nostrils, galloping onwards as the air froze around us. It was too cold, and I was increasingly worried about where Eous had brought us.
"Eous!" I shouted. And to the shock of us all, we were suddenly flying through the air. My face went splat into the snow, slumped against the pile. Groaning I sat up, finding my fellow demigods doing the same. The horse...it had listened to me. Not Èmile, but me. None of us had much time to think on that.
Eous stared at the sky. The sun was long gone. And just as the sun was, so too was the horse as it dashed off. Èmile hurried to his feet to give chase, but it was too late. Eous was gone. Left us stranded in the cold.
There was a long moment of silence. Then Èmile exploded in the longest series of French curse words I had ever heard.
I moved to Tetsu to check if he was okay. He appeared to be, besides being chilly. Our clothes were not for this kind of weather, out here? We would freeze to death.
"Èmile" I said, trying to get his attention. Instead he threw what seemed like a tantrum, kicking at the snow. "Èmile!" Now he turned around, but he hadn't calmed down. "We are going to freeze out here. We have to find shelter."
Tetsu pointed, shivering, to lights in the distance. Lucky Tetsu, finding shelter just like that. I got to my feet, bringing Tetsu up with me as we began our trek through the ankle deep snow. Èmile stomped after us, still muttering curses. I would have hurried him along if I could have bothered. The wind was biting at us, cold settling into our bones and threatening to freeze us to the spot. There was no blizzard, but it seemed that at any moment one could spring upon us.
After a few minutes of stumbling and teeth chattering we were close enough to the town to call for help and have a better view.
A small town, with a few lights on. A sign up ahead half covered in snow read 'Holla' with the rest covered in snow. I held tight to Tetsu by my side, keeping him sheltered from the biting wind. We were not going to die like this.
We followed the snowed in road when I started calling out for help. My throat grew hoarse from the cold and straining my voice. Èmile soon joined in. I felt a sudden urge to help him, but I already was leading the way. I recalled how Aphrodite children could compel people to do things...was that how he did it? No, not the time to think about that.
Where is everyone, I thought, squinting through the snow. It's not even night!
An opened building presented an opportunity we took up. A mechanic shop, the garage door left up. We ran in, finding a place to sit as Èmile closed the door behind. Now out of the cold, all three of us had a moment to ourselves.
"That...is why you don't trust gifts" Èmile said darkly, moving off to elsewhere in the building. I hadn't realized just how deep those words cut.
Tetsu huddled close to me, shivering. I looked around the garage, maybe a jacket was left behind, or a kind of blanket for cars. Was that a thing? I could go for anything like that. I hoped that Èmilewould be coming back with extra layers of clothing to warm us up to this weather.
While looking around, there was something to take note of; how abandoned it all was. Tools were partially frozen, the window of a broken down car was frosted. A bottle of water on a toolbox was frozen inside. The floor was dusted with snow, all the way to the back of the garage. Whoever owned this place had not been around for a while. Èmile only confirmed this when he returned, carrying a few jackets.
"No one's here. Warm yourselves up" he tossed them, then went back to searching around the mechanic shop.
I pulled on the puffy jacket, then went to rubbing my hands together to help warm myself up. Tetsu copied my actions, his teeth chattering. He was smaller than either of us, so he had grown cold the fastest. Already his fingers were turning blue, his cheeks a rosy red. His hair was frozen at the tips. Checking my own hair I found I was the same, frozen hair ends and blue finger tips.
"Where...where...is everyone?" Tetsu asked through chattering teeth. I couldn't find a suitable answer, besides that I didn't know.
Èmile returned, stopping to stand in front of us. He crossed his arms, glaring down at me. I matched his glare, standing up to meet him. Tetsu could immediately sense the tension and huddled up.
"You going to trust me? To have some sense and not use every gift you get?" I had bet he was expecting a yes.
"She couldn't have known," was my chosen response. There was no way the Muse could have known the horse would bring us here.
"Unbelievable." He threw his arms up, turning away. "Unbelievable! That 'noble steed' ran us into a blizzard! The very same horse your gift called upon! We are on a quest here. It doesn't matter if they mean it or not, they are no help!"
"It still got us somewhere! Or would you prefer we keep trying to hitchhike for another hour or two, huh?" I struck back, crossing my arms now. "Maybe some kindly monsters could pick us up."
"Better than being in a snow storm, because at least we can fight monsters!"
"And here I thought you said I wasn't that great at fighting."
"You aren't! You're inexperienced, don't know a thing about what you're up against, don't even know your powers-"
"At least I'm not insecure, about my own power" That snap back hit hard. I could tell. Despite how much he had just told me before about how he wanted to be more of a fighter, not some pretty face...I really went there. But he had cut me deep. And it wasn't till he fell silent and stalked away that it hit. The regret of my words.
I slumped down, holding my head in my hands. Tetsu wordlessly did his best to comfort me by patting my shoulder. Some friend I was, right...but Èmile wasn't really a friend. He was a quest companion. Our experienced team mate. I barely knew Èmile. That did not make him my friend. Even still...
It got to me. The guilt, forcing me to my feet to seek out Èmile. Tetsu began to stand, but I suggested he stay. He understood, remaining where he was.
Èmile was in the mechanics office, spinning on an office chair. I came before the desk, peering at the computer. It hadn't been turned on in a bit, or the cold got to it fast. In his hand was the mirror from the vrykolakas den, peering intently at the reflection.
Èmile continued to spin, ignoring my presence. I coughed for his attention, yet received none. Well, better to get it over with.
"Look...I'm sorry, about what I said," I started, taking a seat at a chair opposite. He continued to spin. "But you shouldn't blame her, not Terp. Not...not every gift is bad."
He stopped spinning, hitting his heel against the desk. And stared. He waited for me to go on.
"Your...your sister. Or one of them...she gave me this. I assume it was for you. But I didn't want to give it...not yet."
He raised a brow as I fetched the gift from my pack. Despite the couple rough situations it had been through already, the pack was fine. As was the gift inside. Èmile held out his hands, taking it carefully as if it were fragile.
He unwrapped the lid, sliding it off, and peered inside. A slight look of confusion came, followed by a smirk.
"What do you know..."
From the gift box he pulled out a cloth. It shimmered, nearly transparent and had a pink hue to it. He held it in both hands, his eyes gliding across the cloth.
"A Mist Cowl. Aphrodite children can change their clothes and sometimes appearance at will...with a little help of Mist magic, this can be useful" he explained, catching my questioning glance. "For a short time, the wearer can look like anything...as long as it's close to human. The more it strays from human, the shorter the time. Okay, maybe not every gift is bad...and I guess it's yours, if she gave it to you."
He smiled lightly, packing the cowl away before handing it back to me. Then scowled again, placing a spare hand atop mine.
"But just...just be careful. I really do mean it, not every gift is of kindness. The Gods, they always want something in return..." His eyes appeared sad. I recalled what he said of his quest. He had been given a gift...and a price to pay. I wanted to ask, to know why he turned cold and harsh when it came to the gods, and to fighting. Instead I went with another question.
"The uh...the mirror. What's it do?" I asked, leaning over the desk to get a good look. There was an orange glow from the reflection. Èmile lowered the mirror before I could get see what was in it, his expression a little glum. I didn't like that.
"A bunch of telk...dog-men. I remembered what Terpsichore told me. How it could be used to see through other reflections, so I took a chance, seeing if I could see what was ahead of us. Yellowstone has a bunch of them around. And the mountain?" He sounded worried, and I shivered. The mountain was a volcano, and anything worrying about that was not anything good. "There is an orange glow in the sky. No one was running, or panicking. I don't think the mortals see the glow."
That was unnerving. There was a glow in the sky, over a volcano and no one panicked? No one ran screaming, no alert on the news? I opened my mouth to ask another question. But neither of us could continue talking when there was a sudden scream. I recognized who, and it chilled me to the bone.
"Tetsu?!"
I rushed out, Èmile speeding behind me. I had left the kid alone, how could I?! Now he was probably hurt, or being attacked by a monster, or...or sitting, on the ground.
Immediately I knelt at his side, checking him over. But his eyes were glued to what was in front. He didn't even acknowledge me.
"Tet, what's wrong? Are you hurt at all? Was it a monster, or-"
There was a tap to my shoulder. I looked up to Èmile who was staring the same way. It was my turn to look, and I froze. Right in the storage cabinet was one of the mechanic's staff. Either that, or one of the best ice sculptures I had ever seen.
So it's been a fun ride so far! I hope you've been enjoying the story up until now, if anything does stand out feel free to let me know!
On that note, I have felt that maybe this story was moving too fast. So I've started going back, filling in some blanks so it feels smoother, so past chapters are going to be updated now and then. Thanks for reading!