CHAPTER 10: SHADOW

Amelie

A scream woke me up. I sprung out of bed and reached to turn on the lights. Piper and Calypso were already awake and comforting Annabeth. Savannah woke up groggily in her borrowed pajamas, "Waz gonya on?"

"Nightmare," Piper rushed out of the room to find Percy.

I went over and took Annabeth's blanket and my pillow and brought it over to the couch. Percy soon came out with Annabeth in his arms as they settled into the couch. Percy mumbled sweet nothings into her hair as she whined down.

Sally came out with Paul as they glanced worriedly. Sally asked, "Is she okay?"
I nodded. Savannah popped up behind me and whispered, "How long?"
"I don't know. I wasn't around when it began."

"Tartarus." I jumped and turned around to see a deathly pale Nico. "You just arrived today, but this is almost a weekly occurrence. It's getting better."

I felt numb. From the tales I've heard, Tartarus is no joke, a living, breathing monster.
I mumbled, "I didn't know that."

Nico nodded, "There's a lot we don't know. We can only guess what happened down there."

Savannah glanced on at the couple, "It's like they're haunted."
"We all have our demons," said Nico.

I nodded, "Some more so than others. Nico, something gives me the feeling that you are more than you seem." I turned to him, looking for any reaction in his face. He continued staring at Annabeth and Percy.

"It doesn't matter."
I shook my head, "Don't undermine your own issues because you think it's not worth caring about."

"It's not. I'm over it," said Nico harshly.

"Doesn't seem like it," I mumbled, "Don't think I don't notice how awkward you are with everyone else. Just because no one sees it doesn't mean you don't have demons as well."

Nico grimaced. I continued, "Memories will always haunt you like little shadows. You have to face your own demons, kid. You know, when I first met you at camp, you were almost dead, physically and emotionally. But that kid, Will, really helped you. You miss him, don't you?"
I glanced at Nico. He nodded weakly. "He helped me get through Tartarus as well."
I nodded, "There are always people here for you, even if you don't realize it."

"I wish you would take your own advice," grunted Savannah.

"What?" I stared at her.

Nico looked between us and dragged us back towards the rooms, "Time for bed."

Once we reached our room, he smiled at me, "Thank you."
And then the door shut.

The morning was brighter than the dreary night before. We were all laughing and talking, ignoring the events before. Nico stared at me and said, "Are you going to eat that?"
He pointed at my boiled egg. I put my hands up, and he took the egg and plopped it into his mouth.
Piper said, "So I know we kind of rushed the introductions because of the monster attack yesterday and dinner and how we literally passed out, but tell me again, who are you?"
She pointed a fork in Savannah's direction. Savannah looked up, milk dripping down her chin.

She pointed at herself as if asking 'who me?'. "My name is Savannah. I'm, uh, a demigod just like you guys."

Leo called out, "Parent?"
"Athena." Everyone shrugged and nodded, expecting that from her blonde hair and grey eyes.
"Why did you come here?" Jason frowned.

"Chiron told me that Amelie is staying here," she smiled brightly.

Calypso added, "She's Amelie's sister, another Amazon."
Nico frowned at her but continued eating his breakfast. He whispered ominously, "I sense death."

Everyone froze at that. Leo laughed nervously, "Ignore him. He's just being weird again."

Nico frowned, "But I'm n-"
Annabeth slapped a hand over Nico's mouth. Through gritted teeth, she said, "We don't want to scare our guest. Besides, I want to know more about Themyscira anyway."
Savannah tilted her head, "It's fine. We have some children of Hades on the island, so sometimes they just say things like this for fun."
I didn't want to mention how they were usually spot on with their predictions, plus or minus a couple of hundred years or so. Savannah continued, "Anyway, are you interested in joining the Amazon?"
Percy frowned and put a protective arm around Annabeth. "Hell no," he answered for her.

Savannah shrugged and sank into her seat, "Then I can't say anything. Ask Calypso."

Calypso's eyes widened and she shook her head, "I was stuck on Ogygia the whole time. I don't know anything."
I mumbled, "You frequently IM us, so I disagree."

Annabeth's eyes brightened and she started interrogating Calypso about the architecture of the place and the set up of the camp.

Sally chuckled, "Shouldn't you guys be going to school right now? Paul already left."
Leo waved his hand dismissively, "Nah. Cool kids come late. Bye Jason."

Jason frowned, "What does that mean?"
Percy grinned, "He means that you're too much of a boy scout to be late to school."

"There's only one boy scout, and that's Superman," mumbled Piper.

Annabeth smacked Percy in the hand and dragged him out the door, "We are all going to school right now. So get going Valdez."

Leo saluted her and said, "Yes ma'am." and started scurrying around the house for his stuff.

"I'm not going." I crossed my arms. Savannah looked at me curiously.

"Why not?" said Piper. Nico added, "Yeah, why not? You have to endure this hell with me. You promised last night!"

"I don't recall saying that. And besides, I want to show Savannah around, hang out with her for a bit."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, "Are you sure there isn't any other reason?"

I thought for a moment, "Oh yeah. I might have pranked Xavier and his crew and I might be suspended for a few days."

Leo said in surprise, "I didn't expect an Athena child to be such a troublemaker." His face morphed into a grin as he slung an arm around my shoulder, "Welcome to the team. Perce, Nico, and I are planning something special for the Homecoming football game this Friday."

I grinned, "I want in."

Annabeth pushed Leo aside and stared, "I seriously doubt you got suspended."

"Fine. Most kids in my grade hate me."
Calypso frowned, "No one cares about us. It's high school. It's not Hollywood. And, hate is a strong word."

Damn it. Remind me to get back at Calypso for exposing me. Gladly, I don't want to be at that brat fest anymore than you do.

"I'm still on my suspension and Savannah reason."

Annabeth groaned, "I can't stop you anyway. Fine, Nico and Calypso, you have to get her notes and stuff she's going to miss."

Nico groaned and glared at me for making his day even worse.

Piper smiled and waved, "Have fun you two. I'll see you guys later."

Everyone else filed out the door and began their trek towards school. Savannah smiled, "So what are we doing today?"

Five paintball games, three laser tag games, an hour at an arcade, two monsters, and thirty minutes wasted shopping later, we were eating ice cream at a parlor somewhere. Savannah gleefully ate her mint chocolate chip ice cream, claiming it was the best thing she ate since she tried a croissant last time we were in France.

I listened as she explained how she got here and had to scour the earth for clues aka bother Calypso with IM after IM. I nodded, half-listening. The hair on the back of my neck stood still, and throughout the whole day, I felt something was watching us. It was like a shadow. During laser tag, I swore someone was watching amongst the darkness. During paintball, I was pretty sure someone was standing in the shadow of the referee's stand. In the arcade, I know there was someone watching us from behind the crane machine. When I brought it up with Savannah, she merely shook her head and claimed I was always the paranoid one of the group. She wasn't wrong, but she's definitely ignoring how big of a deal this is.

"-and I'm going to be leaving soon."

That jogged me out of my thoughts as I asked, "What?"

Savannah looked at me dead-serious, a rarity from her bubbly mood. "Hippolyta doesn't know I'm here. She practically banned me from leaving the island for the next hundred years."

There's a good reason for that, I thought.

"So, I'm going to have to go back tomorrow, so I don't get caught. Besides, Cassie is itching to see you as well."
"Malaka*, you shouldn't have come in the first place."

Savannah frowned, "You still haven't told me the full story."
"No."

"Please." She whined, her lip puffing up.

"Paidí mou*," I sighed, "No. I can't risk it."
"Fine. Don't tell me why you suddenly had to leave the Amazons when you practically have nothing else in your life." She crossed her arms and stared at the street. I followed her gaze towards the buildings around us and the chatting citizens as they went around their daily business.

"It's nice here." She whispered.

I nodded. "Chiron chose a nice place for a camp. A bit too much city, but it works."

"Blame Olympus for thinking this was prime real estate," Savannah said, "Anyway, I'm glad that you found a group of demigods to take care of you. It really eases my mind to know that you're not fumbling around alone, trying to not get killed."

I smirked, "Who's supposed to be the oldest sibling here?"
Savannah tilted her head in feign ignorance, "Me?"

"No, but, seriously. Don't worry about me. Even if I didn't meet those people, I probably would stay with Chiron and help him out or something."

"I'm worried though. I heard from Chiron that they just had a war with Gaea. Those people physically fought Gaea. I'm surprised they accepted you so easily."

I propped my head on my hand, "I wouldn't say acceptance. More like, they just want to keep me around. There are no chains around me, but I'm a prisoner. I'm not allowed to leave without someone else coming with me. It's suffocating."

"But you do so anyway," Savannah pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah. But they don't know about my midnight escapades. It's supposed to be classified." I put a finger to my mouth. Savannah giggled a bit.

"What about our Princess? Did you see her?"

"Yeah. She's doing pretty good. The mortal world is good for her."

"As it will be for you." Savannah smiled, "You do realize you're free right? The gods can't kill you anymore, not right now at least. You don't have to follow their quests or orders anymore. You're free to live for yourself."

I leaned against my chair, half-frozen. I was free? I've been an Amazon for so long that I've lost sight at what it meant to be free from questing. Sure, there's no normalcy, that's the demigod life for you. But, living for myself?

I looked up to see the sun high in the sky and a couple of birds flying by. It was peaceful. There was no sound of clanking armor or of the blacksmith creating more and more weapons. There were no grunts of the warriors or the ping of the arrow hitting its target.

"Huh, I guess I am."

I looked back down to see Savannah. She nodded with a faint smile. We finished our meal and just enjoyed the Monday sun.

Piper

I opened the girls' room door, expecting to see people doing homework or something. Instead, I saw a stack of board games and a plastic water bottle laying on its side on the floor.

I asked, "What's going on here?"

Savannah shrugged, "Calypso and Amelie wanted to do something with me before I left."

I glanced over to Annabeth, "And you're fine with this?"
Annabeth looked up from her book, "Yeah. It's not like we had that much homework today. But, Amelie, you really should get your notes and homework sorted out."

Amelie put up her hands as if getting arrested, "Yeah, yeah. I already did it."

Savannah giggled behind a hand, "She acts more like a mom than you do sometimes."

Annabeth widened her eyes and stood up abruptly, "I do not!"
"She just really cares about our education," Amelie explained, "It must be an Athena thing."

"Hey! Don't say that as if you're not one yourself." Annabeth frowned.

I laughed and pulled Annabeth towards the middle of the room, flanked by bunked beds on one side and closets on the other. Calypso was already taking out a game of Jenga and setting up the tower carefully, grimacing every time the floor shook.

I smiled, "So, girls night?"

Everyone glanced at each other and smiled evilly.

"Piper! I can't believe you bought Boardwalk," groaned Annabeth.

Savannah stared at the monopoly game board as if in a trance. "I still do not understand this game."

Calypso nodded in sympathy.

I chuckled, "Annabeth, I can sell it to you. Of course, at a higher price. And you guys will get the hang of it. Everyone has their own house rules anyway."

Savannah glanced at Calypso and mouthed 'house rules?' Calypso shrugged but took the dice anyway. She moved her little dog figurine towards the Go square and collected her money.

Amelie narrowed her eyes as it was her turn to go. She said, "I feel like Leo should have fiddled around with the game. Buying an empty promise of real estate is really disappointing."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Would you like to buy real things with fake money?"
Amelie stared at her as if she had grown a dracaena tail, "Yeah. Free stuff."

She then moved her game piece and promptly bought the property and then houses.

I groaned but handed her the house pieces anyway. Savannah looked at the board in shock, "What just happened?"

What did just happen? Everything Amelie owned had a hotel on it. I looked between the board and her. Amelie smirked, "Who's next?"

Needless to say, she got us all bankrupt by the time the hour was over.

We quickly moved on to truth or dare. Apparently, Savannah wanted to experience the normal sleepover ritual. Annabeth and I decided truth or dare was as good as ritual as any.

We quickly explained the rules. I rubbed my hands together and perched my head on top of my palm. My eyes gazed over all the girls here. I settled onto Calypso. "Truth or dare?" I asked her.

"Truth."

"I'll start easy so you can get a hang of this. Hmm, if I offered you a million dollars, would you break up with Leo?"

Calypso's eyes widened, "Why should I?"

Happy with my answer, I leaned back on my hands. "So that's how it works. Calypso, it's your turn."

She nodded and turned to Amelie, "Truth or dare."

"Dare."

What came next I did not expect. Calypso's eyes glinted evilly, "Call someone randomly and try to act like a telemarketer for 60 seconds."

Annabeth looked at Calypso in surprise, "How does she- never mind, Leo probably taught her the most embarrassing things ever."

Amelie sighed and typed in some random number. The phone rang a bit. After a couple of seconds, I was sure no one would pick up. However, I was proven wrong.

Someone groggily said, "Hello?"

Amelie put it on speakerphone as we all tried to stifle our giggles.

"Hello. Have you considered buying the newest and hottest smartphone on the market?"

"I'm sorry. I'm-"

"I'll take that as a yes. It's completely different from your other phones. This phone comes with special features, such as-"

"Again, I'm not interested."

The line disconnected. Amelie sighed, "God, I had no selling points. That was stressful."

Annabeth smiled and gave her a thumbs-up, "Not bad. I see a future in telemarketing for you."

Amelie shook her head, clearly disappointed in herself.

I smiled nervously, "Um, let's continue the game."

After a couple of rounds later, Savannah stared at Amelie, "Truth or dare."

"Truth."

I groaned, "Boring."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. Savannah ignored us and continued, "What happened that day that made you leave the island, leave me?"

Amelie froze and narrowed her eyes, "I knew this would happen."

"Well, you won't tell me anything! We've been siblings for over a millennia. I hope that amounts to some trust between us."

I glanced at the two nervously. This wasn't going to end well.

Amelie sneered, "This is for your own good. You weren't supposed to leave the island anyway. Queen Hippolyta promised me that you wouldn't leave the island."

Savannah slumped, defeated, "Why?"

Amelie shook her head, "If I told you, you would have gotten yourself killed."

"But you know her well enough that she would follow you to the ends of the earth," Calypso said.

"Oh come on, not you too."

"What's that supposed to mean? You've always kept secrets from the people who care. You still won't tell me why I had to make you that costume. Are you going to go rob a bank or something?" Calypso said, visibly hurt.

"Of course not! Why would you think that?"
Savannah crossed her arms, "What was she supposed to think? We're always left in the dark. You think it's noble, but in reality, you're just hurting all of us. We get hurt because we don't know what's going on. You get hurt because there's no one for you to lean on. Because we weren't there. Because we didn't know."

Annabeth and I exchanged glances. Annabeth forced a smile, "It's late, and there's school tomorrow. Come on."

The three of them begrudgingly climbed into their beds. I sighed. Hopefully, things will get better.

Amelie

I trudged through the school hall, emanating a dark aura rivaling Nico's. Savannah left earlier in the morning saying a small goodbye and leaving before breakfast was over.

Even before I stepped foot inside the school doors, something in the pit of my stomach was blaring warning signs everywhere. I asked Gaea about it, and she merely ignored me. However, there's something wrong. I was sure of it.

Or, perhaps, that was my stomach warning me about this. I was suddenly pushed against the rough, cold surface of the lockers. People scattered or ignored the confrontation in front of me. There was that Xavier dude that Nico managed to piss off in his quest for friends. He glanced at me while his buddy currently pinned me against the wall.

I sighed and shook my head, "Look, Nico is a fun guy. He's a great friend, but seriously, you have to get over the fact that he has other friends besides you. It's not good to live in denial like this."

Xavier pushed his glasses up his nose and sneered in disgust, "What is this fool talking about? This has nothing to do with that little emo friend of yours, but rather, everything with how you made a fool of me."

I tilted my head, "I don't recall."

Xavier's buddy chuckled, "It took him three hours to get the skunk smell out of his hair."

I put on a show of suddenly remembering, the memory dawning on my face. "Ah, my greatest masterpiece. You are quite lucky. It's not every day that you get a free perfume smell."

Xavier hissed, "Shut up."

I sighed and pretended to look at a fake watch on my wrist, "Can we get this over with? I have a class in like five minutes, and my 'emo friend' would love to know why I ditched school early."

Xavier nodded. His buddy tightened his grip on me and thrashed my head to the left. My skull skid across the metal.

I kneed the guy in the stomach. He loosened his hold in me as he howled in pain. I slid down the lockers and crawled around the guy and hit him underneath his shins for good measure.

"Xavier, it seems my schedule opened up. I can give you two more minutes to chase me. But don't give me any lasting bruises. I really don't feel like going to the nurse's office today."

And with that I ran straight towards homeroom where Nico and Calypso were waiting.

What an unlucky start to the day.

And said day didn't get any better. It turns out that ditching school for a whole day left you with a couple of make up exams and a mountain of confusion as teachers grilled you for answers to their questions. I left Goode high school with an incoming headache, a grudge-holding Calypso, and a couple of hyperactive boys with ADHD.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the worst day ever.

Artemis continued her tale of how her annoying freshman, Dick Grayson, wouldn't stop talking about how he got this weird telemarketer trying to sell him smartphones last night.

I facepalmed and closed my eyes. My ears perked up when I heard Robin's haunting laugh. He whispered, "Did you get that telemarketer as well last night?"
I glared at him, "You could say something like that."

Kaldur said, "We should be training, not giggling like school children."
Wally sped over, "Oh come on, relax. This is training. It's team-building, which is training by the way."

Kaldur sighed and shook his head.

M'gann frowned, "What are telemarketers?"

"They try to sell you stuff, babe. Usually you just ignore them."

M'gann nodded in response to Wally's explanation. "I think we have something similar on Mars."

Superboy scoffed and continued watching his static.

I glanced over and whispered, "Does he ever change the channel?"

Wally shrugged, "He's a man of mystery. We still don't know what to call him yet. We just say Superboy."

Robin smirked, "I prefer to think of him as the baby of the team. We are going to help raise him."

I stifled a laugh, "Is he a pet or something?"

"Well, he's like a baby bird. He's new to the world," said Robin, clearly pleased with his pun.

I rolled my eyes, "The team only needs one bird here, and besides, I don't think I've ever seen him fly."

"Maybe he's shy," said Wally as he ate some chips with hair wild from his run to the kitchen.

I frowned, "Doubt it. He may be a man of few words, but I don't think he's shy. He seems to like hanging around with M'gann."

I pointed to the scene in front of us where M'gann was talking animatedly with Superboy. Static was still on, but his gaze was no longer directed at the screen.

Wally yelled, "Hey! Hands off my babe! Oh whatever, I'm not the jealous type."

Artemis scoffed, "You sure about that?"

Before Wally and Artemis could get themselves into another fight, Batman came out of the Zeta tube. Everyone walked over to the holo computer and waited for Batman to speak.

Robin grinned, "Do we have a mission?"

"Yes. We have gotten information about a developing situation in a warehouse in Newark. There is going to be an equipment deal happening there. Your goal is to disrupt the deal and discover what exact equipment is being sold."

Wally raised a hand, "Who are the two parties?"

Batman typed something up on the holo computer and pulled up an image of a tall man with gruff hair around his face. "An unknown buyer and Vandal Savage."

"What?" I whispered with eyes widened. The shadow of the feeling in the pit of my stomach came back. Out of everyone, it had to be him. This was definitely the worst day ever.

Flashback

Athenais hurried back to camp where Queen Hippolyta was waiting for information. Athenais opened up the flap of the tent and entered. There, amongst lit torches, laid all the injured Amazons. The medic bay. Athenais sighed and averted her gaze from the groans of her fellow sisters.

She hurried to the back of the tent where a war room was arranged. She crouched down on one knee and said, "My Queen. The other scouts and I have singled out the leader to be a man named Marduk the demigod hero. We tried to reach an agreement with him, but he still wishes to invade Themyscira."

Hippolyta nodded, "Those Babylonians. We must prepare. Go and notify the others to prepare our mountain top defenses. He's going to have to come via boat, so get the daughters of Poseidon to do something about it."

Athenais nodded and went out of the tent. She bumped into her sister, Sevasti, her doe eyes searching for information. She stated, "We're going to war, aren't we?"

"I don't have time for this."

"You never tell me anything! I didn't even know you left until I heard from the others."

Athenais rolled her eyes, "We're going to war with a man named Marduk. Happy?"

"Of course not," she frowned, "We're going to war. People will die."

"I know, and more will die if I don't hurry up with the defenses. I need you to stay put. You're not ready to go out into combat yet. So please, get the weapons ready."

Athenais quickly left, ignoring her sister's pleas.

That's a wrap! This may be shorter than my other chapters, but the next chapter is really important. So, stay tuned for that!

Malaka= a phrase commonly used in Greece as a term of endearment. Direct translation to English shows it's a swear word. It's slang.

Paidi mou= my child

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-hope4all