An Amuseing Encounter

Pain seared through my chest, making it hard to breathe almost. Imagine having a two time champion slamming you with spike covered boxing gloves. Now make the champion the world's largest sumo wrestler, and you have an idea of how I felt. Maybe.

Èmile, Tetsu and I moved away from the streets to avoid any unwanted attention, trying to find a quiet place to patch up. Too bad I had just missed medical class for this quest.

Sure hope you know how to stitch, Èmile I thought, staring after him. While he held our wounds, using the wall to remain upright he moved steady on, constantly muttering to himself about newbies and babysitting. He was upset with me, I could tell. And I blamed myself, but I also didn't care what he thought...okay maybe I cared a little.

"I'm sorry" I finally said, clutching my chest. It bled through my fingers, dripping to the ground. "I'm sorry I messed up, all right?"

Èmile shot a glare over his shoulder in my direction without offering a word. His hair was a mess, and a cut through his lip ruined his mustache.

Our orange shirts were practically shredded under our vests. The camp logo torn in half, now reading Camp f-Blood.

"Here" Èmile said, pointing to a shadowed area behind a truck. Me and Tetsu knelt down, leaning against the truck to catch our breath.

"Helene, get to healing, we don't have long."

I frowned up at him. What did he mean by...right, child of Apollo.

"Uh...yeah, about that..." He raised a brow at me. Then clasped his face in his hand. "I can't heal. Or I haven't tried. I've only...blasted light? Or whatever it was I did?"

"Then try. Place your hands on Testu, sing a song, and heal him. Or whatever it is you Apollo kids do" he waved it off, keeping watch.

So, that's what they did? They sung a song to heal people? Sounded easy enough. I placed both my hands against Tetsu's chest, holding them there. He whimpered, and I assured him with a smile.

I started to sing after much deliberation on what to sing, choosing Hallelujah. Apollo must be a fan of classical music's, so surely that could work right? Apparently not as nothing happened. No glow, no shine, no closing up wounds.

Three lines in and I stopped, deciding to pick another genre with every song off key. I must have gone through four songs, from rocking out a quick AC/DC beat to a verse of Queen before Èmile cut in.

"What are you doing?" he asked, sounding aggravated.

I threw my hands up.

"What's it look like to you, huh? You told me to heal him like Apollo kids do. Will showed me how they heal others, I tried it, and nothing. Nothing, okay?!" I strained my voice yelling back.

My chest ached, I felt weak. Why can't he understand?

Èmile said nothing, for he had no need to. The gaze of disappointment said it all. Getting down on one knee he got his pack, opening it up to retrieve a bottle from it. He took a single quick sip and suddenly looked relieved. Before back to his disappointing gaze.

"One sip, unless you want to burst" he said, handing the bottle to Tetsu. The younger demigod took it and felt relief. I was next, and immediate relief of chocolate milk flowed through my body.

Èmile took the bottle back, packing it away.

"Get up. We have to keep moving" he said, glancing around.

I made no argument there, now knowing full well those telkhines had tracked us here. And if they could, what else could do the same?

Shouldering our packs with weapons in hand, we moved on through Nashville. We had to find another way out of here, get back on with our quest.

I wondered if all quests were like this. Danger from the get go, no time for sight seeing or getting a good night's rest. Always watching your back and each other's backs, waiting for the next monster to rear its ugly head to look for a meal. Three demigods, a full course.

The nectar, from what I remember it being called, did its job. We felt rejuvenated. One thing kept coming back to mind...

"What did you mean?" I asked Èmile. "One sip, or you'll burst. What did you mean by that?"

He didn't respond right away, thinking it over. Or maybe pondering how I could be so ignorant.

"It is the drink of the gods. Normal mortals would burst into flames taking a sip. We drink too much, we will also burst into flames. Nothing but ash" he explained, earning a wide eyed look.

So the very thing that saved us could just as easily have turned us into dust. Great, what a welcoming idea to add to the many ideas of 'how will I die?'

Our trio must have been moving for three hours now. Trying to search every alleyway for a point of rest, only to move on to the next. Then the next...then the next. I had enough.

"Let's find a hotel. We'll keep watch, make a back up plan to leave-"

"Too risky" Èmile quickly replied. I glared back.

"More risky than walking in the open, ready to topple over? We're tired, Frenchie." I was not proud to admit that it took almost half a day to come up with that insult. And it barely made him flinch.

"You want to get trapped? Be my guest. Don't drag us down with you, though, we will just head back to camp and call it a day" he said back in annoyance.

I huffed, keeping my mouth shut tight to relent from insulting him further. Didn't want to be a bad influence in front of Tetsu who, since Ihop, had been completely silent.

I felt worried for him. He had faced those monsters before. Things didn't go well for him then, and they didn't turn out well this time either. I draped an arm around his shoulder, holding him close and he relaxed some.

While in fostering, I was one of the oldest there. I was expected to babysit, look after the younger kids. I did it well...enough. Tetsu reminded me of them, wanting someone to look up to.

"You okay? Or the pancakes fill you up too much to talk?" I asked, offering a smile.

He offered one back, followed by a quick nod and his attention going elsewhere.

He was scared for his life. He knew now that the telkhine were after him, specifically. For...Nemesis? The name wasn't familiar to me when it came to mythology.

"Nemesis. They sai-"

"Careful with names" Èmile urged. But, he read my mind. "I don't know what she would want with him. I know that in myth, it is mentioned that some are her children. They made weapons for the gods, only to be forgotten and replaced by the...the one eyed giants."

I knew what he meant. cyclopses. One eyed giants.

"Who is Neme...who is she?"

"Goddess of Revenge" he started explaining without looking back. "She is one of the minor gods. She is cruel among them, yet supposedly fair. You should know more about all this stuff."

"Well sorry that I just learned I'm the daughter of a Greek God" I shot back.

An expression flashed across his face but I didn't notice it long enough to know what it was.

There was a pause. A truck rumbled by, chill wind blowing past us. I shivered, yet still felt warm in the sunlight. I folded one arm to my chest.

"Do you...do you think it has to do with the quest?" I asked.

"What?"

"You know...to stop us. Take one of us out, do you think so?"

Èmile pondered it, staring at the road. Then shook his head.

"It is your quest. If they wanted to disrupt it, they would have gone for you...no, I think it has to do with something else."

Off to our side Tetsu had a worried expression and shivered all over. I felt it with my arm over him.

I offered quiet words of encouragement and assurance, which seemed to soothe him...what gods would send a kid his age on a quest like this? Who thought it fair?

"Èmile, it's cold out here. We have to find a place to stay, the sun's going down. We stay out here, we'll freeze. Please" I urged him to listen, Tetsu was still shivering.

Before he could even respond, a parchment came flying in the winter air. Smacking Tetsu right in the face. He tried to pull it off, but the wind stuck it there. I had to hold off from laughing to get it off...

Then I saw what it was. A brochure about a museum, deep in Nashville. It would be a busy area. Surely a monster wouldn't dare show up there...right?

"Hey, look at this" I said, bringing the brochure to Èmiles face. He tried to brush it away, but I was adamant he see it.

"Busy place, and...and a place of music. Maybe...maybe it can help with my powers?" I suggested, hoping he'd take it. "We find a hotel near here, take a look around. Come onnn, what do you say?"

The son of Aphrodite apparently could be swayed...because there was only four seconds before he sighed, taking the brochure.

"Your quest, you get a say..." He murmured under his breath. "All right. We will go there, find a place-"

I felt so excited that for once he was listening, but the excitement was quenched quickly.

"But, and I really mean it, first sign of trouble? We run. When I say to run, you run. When I say to fight, you fight."

I nodded with some reluctance. It was a welcome compromise, for the moment. Best part? It was just three blocks away.

"Thank your lucky face, Tet" I said, ruffling his hair to a smile in reply. Yeah, lucky us.

Tetsu stuck in between us while we walked in a straight line, making sure to keep out of the way of pedestrians. This far into the city, decorations were perched on window sills and between lamp posts. Christmas lights lit up dark roads in a multitude of colors. Carols and other holiday songs played from speakers and nearby stores, or open windows. I had nearly forgot that it had come close to Christmas time.

I felt a hole in my heart. I was missing a great time of giving and family, even if I didn't have a real family. They at least let me participate, despite being a freak.

"What does camp do, for Christmas?" I asked Èmile, who turned back for a moment.

"We put up a tree. Some presents. A few Greek traditions...you'll see it when we get back."

I felt a jump of emotion. When we get back. The way he said it, despite the argument before he sounded hopeful that all three of us would. That helped, and I smiled a bit, tucking my head down to avoid the light blush.

Coming down the last block, our trio finally came to it; a massive dome-roofed structure, spanning across at least half a block. Large windows rounded the building at ground level, the entrance itself down a short flight of stairs from the street. A few visitors went in and out. It was still open.

I didn't feel any magical pull to the music, or the history of music. But, I did feel a bubble of excitement burst as I sprang for the steps. Èmile had to catch me before I leapt. I spied Tetsu bouncing on his heels, a big grin on his face.

"What are you doing?"

I fumbled in my brain for an answer. Well, what was I doing? Feeling like a kid again.

"I...I thought, why wait? Why not take a look now? It should be safe enough inside, right? You don't see any monsters do you?"

"Well, no-"

"Exactly! And a place like this must have a blessing of Apollo, right? Cause he'd never let a monster destroy something so attached to musical history...right?"

Èmile sighed, realizing what I was doing. Even had a little smirk.

"Fine. But stay close. Do not leave my sight." I felt a surge course through me, nodding and agreeing quickly. It sounded sensible coming from him, how his words flowed...weird feeling.

Èmile took the lead, fishing out his wallet with the mortal money we had on hand. As we approached, something else struck my ears.

Such...an energetic melody. How it carried across the air waves, shaking them to the beat. I didn't even notice my hips moving slowly to the rhythm, nor did the other two.

I spied the source of the music; a tour guide, headphones to her ears while dancing on the spot, singing aloud. She had a long black dress and red jacket with dark hair in a braided bun. A pin on her chest of an instrument I could not recognize, but it appeared to have strings.

She was flicking her arms out, kicking around in her dance, which was so in tune to the rhythm.

"let's rock, everybody let's rock, everybody in the cell block was dancin' to the Jailhouse- oh hey!" She waved at us, and I waved back with just as much excitement. She was smiling so brightly, an adoring expression. Even Èmile was smiling.

"What can I do for you three young music entrepreneurs?" she asked, taking one side of the headphones off but still moving her feet to the beat. Was a little funny to watch.

"We were hoping to have a tour?" Èmile said, bringing forth his wallet.

But to our surprise, the tour guide paused all she was doing, taking a long hard look at us. I felt uneasy suddenly...then she got back to dancing, a wider smile.

"What?! You, pay for a tour?! No way, no way! This ain't some usual museum, no! This is the museum of music. Three demigods are more than welcome, especially three on a quest!"

Èmiles expression hardened as he reached to his side. I followed suit, Tetsu shivered but did the same.

"Hold! I am not for that kind of dancing, please. No blood here, no fighting here unless it's a dance fight! Or a band battle" she urged us to lower our weapons.

"Wait...do you...do you truly not recognize me? Statues? Pictures...paintings?"

We all shook our heads. She gasped, stopping her movements. It felt dull again without her dancing and music.

"I...I...Oh, that won't do..." She murmured quietly, falling to a nearby seat.

I stepped closer. With a better look, she had brown eyes and a face that only just before had been bubbling with energy. Even though she seemed sad, her eyes danced in the light. And the pin...I knew it now, from my short stay at Apollo Cabin.

"Is that...is that a lyre?" I asked, pointing to it. She gazed down, and smiled again before clicking her fingers. The pin shimmered, growing in size. I backed up quickly, watching in awe.

What once was a metal pin was a golden lyre, the design ancient yet pristine. Èmile was the most in shock, and bowed. Tetsu followed suit quickly.

"Helene-"

"Helene! Lovely name! I know one, a Helene Fischer. She is going to be so famous, I'm calling it now" the tour guide seemed so sure of herself as well.

"Who...who are you?" The tour guide frowned...and a moment of clarity came to her.

"Oh...oh! I heard about you! Right, of course! You're new to all of this, yes?" I nodded. She stood, lyre in hand and waved a hand over herself, starting at the top. Her whole form shimmered. Quiet voices sung in the breeze, taps of feet rumbled at the ground.

Her dress and jacket were long gone. Now, in their place was green robe. Gold rimmed her braids and bracelets.

"I? I am one of the Nine Muses, Terpsichore. Muse of Dancing...and you, Helene Miller. I am willing to offer my assistance to your quest...in exchange for a favor."