Knock Knock, Who's There? Monster

Everywhere step she took was choreographed. A twirl, a quick step, a slide and shuffle. Terpsichore was always on the move, shaking her shoulders and arms like on the show Dancing With The Stars. If you told me that she had been one of the stars once, I would not be surprised in the least. She was beautiful enough to be one of the stars, danced with the energy of a whole backup entourage.

Her bun swayed back and forth every time she turned her head. Tetsu was moving in rhythm, or at least trying to. Me and Èmile, not so much at the moment. I was just glad the kid was enjoying himself for once. He deserves some fun, I thought, recalling the first telkhine.

And in true fashion of her outfit, having switched back to her tour guide dress, she was giving us an hour long lesson on Johnny Cash.

"-Folsom Prison Blues was hist first hit album, I was there to see that live performance, and let me tell you!" The Muse had to fan herself while doing a spin.

"Uh, yeah that's great..." Èmile mumbled, shooting me a glare.

Yeah, I got the message. We sidetracked the quest for a personal tour of country music. All cause I wanted to explore. To get away from it for a moment. I thought it would be safe...the part about Apollo, about exploring my music magic talent? Was a lie. I didn't feel the least bit interested.

"It is great! Tell me more, please!" Tetsu said, bouncing on his feet in rhythm to the speakers around playing Johnny Cash music. He was more talkative now, to say the least. His hazel eyes sparkled in intrigue and energy. Terpsichore had slicked his hair back, more into a style of the characters from Grease.

My own braid was frizzled all up and down, and it had annoyed me since the fight.

Meanwhile, Èmile? Handsome as ever. He didn't look like he'd been harmed at all, save for the scratches down his vest.

There was one upside to this, however. Soon as the Muse had seen our condition, she 'borrowed' shirts from the gift shop. I got a purple shirt with the logo of the museum, Èmile got a long sleeve green shirt and Tetsu got a t-shirt and a leather jacket. Someone was picking favorites already...or trying to make their own rock star. Not that I was complaining, Tetsu looked adorable in his little outfit. If anyone ever said otherwise? I would prove them wrong with a full list.

"So, Terp? Can I call you that?" I asked ahead to the Muse, who stopped and twirled on the spot. She smiled, but the gaze she held gave a clear answer.

"Yes, Helene?"

"This thing, you mentioned a thing you needed help with. When are we discussing that?" I asked her.

She stopped moving. She grew sad soon as she did, finding a place to sit. A deep sigh flowed from the woman, eyes downcast.

There was a long pause as even the speakers fell suddenly silent. Tetsu was the most unnerved, moving to my side to clutch my arm.

"People are disappearing. Left and right, gone so suddenly. They're...they're afraid to come to Nashville. They blame kidnappings and criminals, but this is...this feels more ancient than that," she explained, her hands tensing, constantly moving.

"I don't know what it is, nor to I want to know. I fear if I found it, it would..."

Her words caught, but I understood. Was a Muse a god? Could monsters kill them?

"So you need us to hunt it down" Èmile stated. Terpsichore nodded solemnly.

She raised her eyes, directly to me. There was sadness. No energy left like her dancing and singing had. She looked empty, defeated. Tired.

I moved to her, kneeling down before clutching her hand in her lap.

"We'll find what's doing this. And we'll put a stop to it" I promised, pouring my confidence into every word. She beamed, and the music came back on soon as she got back on her feet.

"Thank you, oh thank you! Please, please do hurry! People shouldn't stop coming to visit. So many stars deserve to be recognized here!...Oh, and the disappearing people. Just as bad."

I caught Èmile rolling his eyes further back as I moved back to Tetsu, who was back to smiling.

"We'll get them" he said, in his small voice. He sounded just as confident as I had been. To think, the quiet small boy I found in the alley was shaping up to be more.

"Terpsichore, if I may," Èmile started, "Can you get us a hotel? To stay?"

Her eyes widened and quickly nodded, clicking her fingers. Room keys appeared in hand.

"A suite for three. I provide the best service to demigods deserving. Go, rest! And I promise you I will help with your quest!"

Èmile bowed his head, quicker than last this time before taking me by the wrist and pulling me along. Tetsu took the room keys since we forgot, running after us.

"She's nice" he said as we left the museum.

"She is, but she can't help."

I frowned at Èmile, pulling my wrist from him. Can't help? Why couldn't a Muse help? She had displayed power, and may have a gift. That's how quests worked right?

"Maybe she can, you don't know what she can do. You barely even recognized he-"

"She's a Muse. Sure, technically they are goddesses, but they aren't powerful" he stated, pointing a glare at me. He was blaming me for this, again.

How dare he, I thought. We just met a Muse, an actual friend here for once, and he turns it into a bad situation? Flips it on me?

That was why I had had enough.

"She showed us hospitality, got us a hotel, has offered us help all in exchange for us hunting one thing. One monster. That's it. Sure, maybe it'll be tough. But it's a lot better than, oh I don't know, getting an Ihop torn down because we stopped for breakfast!"

The hotel had to be protected in some way. She would have placed protections, or what protection she could. She had power, obviously.

Èmile, apparently didn't agree.

"You shouldn't put so much faith in them" he said, then left. Tetsu started after him, only to pause and come back to my side.

"She will help us, right? She isn't a monster. She's nice" he said quietly.

I felt unsure. She was no monster...but Èmile had experience. So why couldn't he trust a Muse? They were obviously on our side.

"Yes...Yes, she will help us. After we help her. Got those keys?"

He held them up in his hand. I nodded. We left the street side, headed the same way Èmile had gone for the hotel.

Our hotel room was, least to say, a magnificent change of scenery compared to what we had seen so far. The bus ride had been quiet, the Ihop...well the Ihop had monsters. Ever since leaving Camp Half Blood, while it had only been a day since then our trio had been hunted down by telkhines and who knows what else. It was a much needed relief, and with a view. And what a nice view it was over the city of Nashville, observing the music museum below.

There were three beds in one large room with a TV at the other side. Tetsu ran for the remote, flipping through channels while sitting on one of the beds. A small kitchen with a microwave and sink was closer to the hotel suite entrance. A single bathroom to share was off to the side, which I called dibs on to freshen up. After the fight with the telkhine, I was dirty and smelled like trash and dried blood. Èmile went to the bedroom, taking stock of what we had.

I was glad to have used the bathroom, coming back out dressed and armored. With a sigh of relief I flopped onto the only spare bed left available, while Èmile left me and Tetsu to clean himself up.

"What you watching?" I asked Tetsu, leaning up to see the TV.

"Kids Next Door" he said, eyes glued to the TV. "Just like us, aren't they?"

I didn't quite know how to answer that. It was coming to mind that Tetsu wasn't as young as he seemed...and it had not bothered me one bit. The kid had already gone through a lot.

"Yeah. They are" I answered, even if I did not fully understand the show at all.

"They fight villains, live secret lives. Fancy moves. Go on quests of their own!"

I frowned, moving to sit on the same bed as Tetsu, looking him over.

"So, your name isn't...isn't Tetsu?"

He paused, then nodded. I frowned, recalling what Chiron had said.

"But...Chiron called you Yoma Tetsu." He nodded back, eyes on the show. "Ah, you just like being called Tetsu huh?" He nodded again. He was an odd kid, but he was all right. That begged another question, though. Such a young kid, alone in the city...

"Tet...where's your family?" I asked. His smile wavered for a moment. "I-I mean, if you have one...sorry, that wasn't the right-"

"They're back home...probably. I..." He pulled his knees to his chest, eyes on the TV still. "I knew the monster was after me. I didn't want them hurt. Dad...my dad knew I was special, as did my step mom. I ran. Couldn't let them get hurt..."

This was the most he had talked since we met. I couldn't just let it drop off there.

"They nice? Your family?"

Tetsu nodded quietly against his knees. I ruffled his hair a little but for once he didn't chuckle, so I withdrew.

"Hey...you know you can talk to me, right?" I asked, giving him an assuring tone. "I'm not a monster. I'm your friend. We're all...well, I am your friend anyway. And you're mine, yeah?"

He wouldn't get hurt with me around. I would try to protect him. The kid needed a friend around. I took a deep breath, fishing around in my pocket. I pulled out my wallet, freezing upon seeing how burned it was. The last reminder I had of any blood family. My mother...I remembered the day I had been given the wallet. The day I found out what had happened.

"This...this was my moms" I said, flipping it open. I choked a sob. Every time I saw her...

"Oh...the wallet the twins stole...they should have apologized, I'd make them if I could" Tetsu said, and I smiled at the remark.

"It's fine. Don't need to" I replied.

I held it for him to see. He leaned over, for the time being not looking at the TV. My mom's picture, burn marks all around her. Circling her like a crushing darkness, threatening to wipe away the shining smile.

"She's pretty" he said. I smiled again, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah...she is..." A trembling sigh left me. Somewhere outside the bedroom I heard a door open.

I stared at Tetsu. I wanted him to feel safe, to at least open up a bit. He was talking now, but how long before he closed up again?

"I was five...she had dropped me off at school. She always had this bright smile...she worked at a planetarium. Loved the stars, space...but she loved the sun the most." I don't know how I remembered that most of all, I had only been so little...maybe because so much of her things were to do with research on the sun and how every sunset, they would watch it go. "She always told me stories about the sun. About how all different cultures saw it. I adored her bedtime stories..."

Tetsu watched me quietly. He was quietly paying attention, more so than before. I was at least somewhat glad for that.

But...that's where I stopped. He didn't need to hear the rest, and my eyes were already growing wet.

"What about your family?" I asked. The question got him thinking, and he pulled something from his pocket.

I finally saw what he had been playing with since the bus.

A wooden six sided die, worn and old. He rolled it in his hand.

"My dad was a gambler" he started. "He got out of it after having meeting my step-mom. I have a step brother and step sister...he still has the habit, a little bit. But not as bad...he used to tell me how he met my mother at a casino. How she was drawn to him after he had won the big prize. How he took such big risks for chance...and then she left" he sighed, rolling the die in his hand still.

Guess his dad was just as lucky as he was.

Èmile finally rounded the corner. In the back of my mind, I knew he had been listening in the whole time. And I could have sworn there was a tear in his eye...I quickly turned away to hide my own brimming to my own eyes.

"What about your family?!" Tetsu asked with some amount of excitement. It must have felt like a trust game to him now.

Èmile flinched, glancing away. And then, he spoke some rather harsh words.

"My dad was a pompous idiot who didn't care for anything." By how his face changed, those words had just slipped out. Even I was in shock.

"Get some rest."

"Èmile, you-"

"We will need it if we are to help the Muse. Go to sleep." I felt a compulsion to rest, eyes feeling heavy. Tetsu plopped down behind me, as peaceful as ever.

I moved to my own bed, or rather slumped over to it, and as soon as I laid down I fell asleep. I wish I hadn't.

I was there again. Facing down the man on fire. Every detail was the exact same, except things appeared clearer through the haze. I could look around and saw a sight that made my heart skip a beat.
Tetsu and Èmile, gashes, burns and cuts over their arms and legs and chest. Rope tied them high in the air against a rock wall.

Turning back to the man in fire, his visage was clearer as well. Golden light shone around and through the fire. Where his eyes should be were beams, and I was the deer caught in the headlights. A tall figure, built like a giant with golden armor. This wasn't real, it could not be. Obviously, it wasn't. It was just a dream! But the heat coming from the man felt real. And it felt...great. Energizing.

The man laughed, just as he had in the last dream. And spoke, just as he had in the last dream.

"Them?! They would never accept you! No...they will fear you." But this time, he did not finish there. "How could they trust you, after you lied to them?"

No...no, how could he... I thought. No, this dream was only my subconscious. Feeding off...no, it's just a dream, just a dream!

"If only Chiron knew. If only the Gods knew! You wouldn't last a second, Helene Miller!"

I startled awake, grasping a hand at my chest. It was just a dream, just a nightmare. But it all felt so real. My mind was trying to tell me it was otherwise, deep in my heart I knew it was something more. I did not know what...and it scared me. It scared me how it knew I lied...

The prophecy...I...I had to I told myself in my head.

I had to lie. Because I didn't want it to be true. When I had heard the prophecy, I knew it was wrong to do so...but I withheld the last line. I uttered it under my breath without thinking.

"In ash and smoke, the world will be taken by fire...unless it is faced with it's greatest ire..." I clutched my chest, trying not to cry. The words held weight. And so far, having seen what I had seen, knowing what I now knew. The power of a Muse...if a Muse was that powerful, if dog-headed men could toss dumpsters with such little effort, if a god could eviscerate someone with so much as a thought, it was reasonable to believe that something could indeed cover the world in fire. And it all weighed on me.

I glanced at the other two demigods whom had gone on this quest with me. I felt I should have told them, at least...but that would only add more pressure to them. At the same time, the nightmare hit deep, made me feel guilty for lying to them. Sure, I only knew them by two days, or well one of them for two days. The other I just met earlier today. Had it really only been a day? Well, so much for quickly earned trust right?

Sighing I rolled over away from them, knowing if I stared any longer and the guilt would overcome me. And I couldn't let-

"Helene Miller." I froze. A whisper drifted through the air. That voice. I slowly sat up, eyes searching our hotel suite. I was terrified.

"Helene Miller" the feminine voice called, with more authority to it. "Come, come to the door." I frowned now. Terpsichore, what was she doing there? I glanced to the others who were still soundly asleep. Shrugging I slowly got out of bed, still in the clothes Terp had given us that day.

Slowly I crept to the door, hand reaching for the knob.

"Helene, come quickly. Helene, quickly" Terpsichore urged on, and I opened the door. It squeaked. A rustle in sheets was heard behind me. But I couldn't turn to see who I had just woken. Or the distant voice calling to me. Only stare at what I knew was definitely, definitely not Terpsichore. Only a bulbous form, that reached out quickly. It only took a second before I was knocked out cold, and in that second I recognized Èmile calling out to me.