She's Awake

MALIAH

Chiron had advised me not to visit Olympus right now. He told me that the gods were pulled away yesterday, around the time Apollo had left me, for a battle. No doubt whatever foe they faced now was the bitter work of that petty goddess I'm destined to kill. Melanie. I think back to Apollo's story, and about how he loved her. No. That's wrong. They loved each other.

Two loves she's ruined for me. As it had turned out, Melanie was the reason that Sophia needed to be claimed so soon. Poseidon had visited Tyler early this morning, checking on his daughter no doubt, and informed him that he'd caught wind of an attack Melanie had planned for her. I sigh. First Tyler, now Apollo. Who was I kidding? What on earth could I have done to make Aphrodite hate me so much?

I lay back on my bed, bringing my pillow over my face. There was no sense in moping around about it, plus she was in battle so I couldn't get answers even if I tried. I scream out into the pillow, feeling the air slash around me. I stop, almost instantly, and the harsh wind dies down. I couldn't allow myself to be that rash with my abilities. Not anymore. I could hurt someone, and I didn't want to do that. I push my pillow off of my face and it lands on the floor next to me. My hand finds the gold ring connected to my choker and my fingers play with it, instinctively. My bow, my gift. It'd been a long time since I'd gone out and completed any training, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to travel into the woods. After all, it was still pretty early and I had another two hours before lunch.

I get up and throw my hair into a ponytail before rummaging through my drawers and pulling out a black tank top and black athletic leggings. I slip on my socks and beat up black Adidas, the ones I used for training. I walk out of my cabin, shutting the door behind me.

"Hey, M!" someone calls out to me.

I turned around and my eyes land on Jase. He's doubled over and panting, sweat soaking his face.

"What is it, J?" I ask, looking pointedly.

"You have to come quick, Mal, something happened," he says, almost breathlessly, "she's awake."

I react without thinking again, and I'm pushing past Jase and heading to the infirmary before he can stop me. Even though I have a head start, and I'm not very slow at all, Jase has caught up with me in an instant. It was no doubt due to his father's blessing. The entire Hermes cabin was fast, but as of now the twins were the fastest out of them. It was no surprise that he actually beat me to the door. He waits on me, though, and we walk in together. As I enter the infirmary, all of my friends along with Allison, Tyler and Chiron are standing around Sophia. Her eyes are open, revealing her sea green eyes. She looked a lot better now, healthier. Her skin was tan now, and though she looked exhausted, she didn't look like she was on her deathbed anymore.

"Hi, Sophia," I say, "I'm Maliah. How are you feeling?"

She hesitates, but offers me a small smile, "I'm okay. I need to find Arden."

"Arden?" I ask, looking at Chiron.

"It appears, from what she says, that Arden is a cyclops."

"So, her brother?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says, "my brother."

"He was fighting something that Melanie had sent after her. She knew it would draw Arden away leaving her vulnerable. I showed up just in time for the attack she really meant for her. I won, but we couldn't risk waiting for Arden when we were both so weak. We're going to train her for a few weeks, just enough so she can protect herself, then we'll go look for Arden." Tyler informs me.

"But what if he's-"

"He isn't," she says, "I would know."

"How?" I ask her.

"This," she says, showing me the bracelet on her wrist with a tiny shield, "it's basically unbreakable, unless Arden dies. If he dies, the shield will crack. It hasn't cracked. We need to find him."

"Okay. We'll get you better and trained, then you guys can go on your adventure," Chiron promises.

"Thank you," Sophia says, softly.

"Is that everything?" I ask, "I have to get back to my own training, if you don't mind."

"Not quite," he says, "I have word for you from Apollo."

I tense up, Katelynn catching my eyes. She knew better than anyone here how I felt about the god.

"Is he okay?" I ask.

"Why does my dad have a message for her?" Allison asks at the same time.

I roll my eyes. It did make me feel sort of weird about my feelings when I heard a girl my age call him her father. Gods, what was my problem?

"He is handling himself." Chiron says.

I visibly relax, and I feel my face release my tension. Tyler catches my eyes and realization floods his face. The realization that I used to care for him this way. I know without asking that I have answered his question from last night.

"What is his message?" I ask.

"He wants you to keep training and he says they'll be gone for a few weeks. He said he needed you to know that, he didn't want to worry you."

I feel myself blush and I look away, "Of course. Nothing to worry about."

Anything to force a reaction out of me, huh, Apollo? Especially now that you could get seriously hurt? Of course. He didn't even try this hard when he wanted me to release him from his duties as my teacher. Even after I asked him not to tease me, I'm being embarrassed in front of my friends.

"What's wrong, Maliah?" Tony asks, his dark eyes curious.

"Nothing. I just need to go, that's all," I say.

"Want me to join you?" Jase asks.

I nod my head, "Sure. I was just going to go out to the woods, but maybe we could go into the city or something. We could go shopping," I add.

"Are you sure you want to take him into a store?" Katelynn jokes.

"You guys can come along, too, just to keep an eye on him." I laugh.

"Sure," Tony agrees, "wanna come Jake? Tyler?"

"Sure," Jake agrees.

"No, thanks," Tyler says, "I need to be ready to help Soph train whenever she's ready to start. Thank you, though."

"She could come, too?" I ask, "All of us being together, it'll attract more than enough monsters for all of us. Plus, with all of us there she'll be okay." I say.

"Yeah," he says, "okay, sure. Do you want to, Sophia?"

"Yeah," she says, "I'd like that."

"That settles it, then, well. I can carry two people, Tony can you get the rest?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says, "no problem."

"So Jase and who else?" I ask, knowing Jase would come with me like always.

"I'll go," Jake volunteers.

"Okay," I say, blowing through my whistle.

In an instant, my sweet hell hound appears in front of me. Ely. She slobbers happily, her large tail twitching while she refrains from wagging it around violently. She's a good girl. After nuzzling her head into me, she turns to Tony and licks him, earning a small chuckle. Next to me, he was her favorite person. As it turns out, he'd hand picked her for me when Hades mentioned his idea. I had to say, he couldn't have chosen a better hell hound for me.

"I guess you got your puppy after all," Tyler laughs.

I smile, almost forgetting that I had told him about that.

"Yeah," I say, petting her as she focuses on me again, "Ely is the absolute best."

Jake sort of whimpers and backs away. He'd never actually traveled on Ely before, so I motion for him to get on first. He does, and I follow suit with Jake behind me. In an instant, I'm cold and it's dark, empty. I'm travelling in the shadows, only my companions around me letting me know I'm not alone. And, just as fast, we're in the broad daylight. Tony and the rest, even Allison, appear to my right and Jase gets off behind me, and I follow suit steadying Jake down. His legs buckle but I brace him for impact. I catch my friend, steadying him, and Ely licks him almost to tell him she's proud. He grins weakly.

"She's a lot faster than I was when I first began, huh, Jake?" Tony jokes.

"Oh, yeah," he mumbles.

"So now what?" Sophia asks.

"We wait," Tyler tells her, "it honestly won't be long now."

Ely stalks around, making herself comfortable, and plops down. Sophia sits next to her, patting her fur as she lays against her. She was still tired, I could tell. I expected she wouldn't be much in battle today, not after getting over her recent wounds. Soon she's asleep on her, shaded by the alley.

"Ely, protect her. We'll deal with the rest, okay?" I ask.

She nods, getting more comfortable in her position.

"Dad says she likes you a lot, you're a good owner." Tony says, nudging me.

I laugh, "Now that I'm his favorite niece, everything I do is fantastic, isn't it?"

"Pretty much. You did save his life after all," Katelynn grins, hugging us both.

"No, we all saved his life. Tyler included." I remind her.

"True," Tyler grins at the memory, "we gained a lot that day."

"Could have lost a lot, too," Jase sighs.

I know we're all reminiscing on Brandon, Katelynn and myself. Our injuries that day were awful, I'd almost drowned, and Katelynn had a shaft of wood lodged into her back. Brandon, however, had gotten the worst of it. He almost died protecting Tyler and me. His recovery took longer than the rest of us, even with Apollo's help. For saving him, I'd always be grateful to the god. No matter what comes out of our situation, that is.

I missed my big brother.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts as a loud growl pierces through the air. I look up and my eyes land on a giant, well over twenty feet. He had a scar along his cheek and what appeared to be the remains of blood around his mouth. I didn't hesitate. Snatching my ring off of the choker, a gold bow with a silver band around my hand grip appears. I draw the string back quickly, and an arrow forms from a ball of energy, I release and it materializes into a physical form. On impact, both the giant and my arrow disappear. The monster in golden dust, and my arrow in silver glitter.

But there was more, yet. We had just under ten campers here, plus a hell hound, so I wasn't shocked. We were surrounded by giants, even a few cyclops, and one hell hound that wasn't Ely. The hound left Ely alone, but a giant took notice of her and Sophia.

"Tyler!" I call out, dropping my bow as it shattered gold. Using a bow wasn't going to work with the enemies this close. I pull out my sword, the gift from my father that would ultimately kill the goddess Melanie.

I swing it out, slashing through three of the giants in front of me, but Tyler won't reach them in time. Ely stands abruptly, Sophia waking, and she attacks the giant, chewing through him until his disintegrates. Instantly, she jumps into a shadow, reappearing behind Sophia and chewing clawing through a cyclops that was in her blind spot. Sophia shields her face, tears in her eyes when she recognizes the creature as one of her brothers. Ely jumps over her, backs her into a corner and standing guard in front of her.

That's my girl.

"She'll be fine, Mal, worry about yourself, duck!" Katelynn screams, throwing a dagger into the head of another cyclops.

"There are so many," Allison says, panting.

Despite her heritage, she'd been using a sword in battle, and she was impressive with it. She was better than any of her brothers and sisters with it, even I could admit that.

"You've got it. Just focus on what you can handle and trust that we'll take care of the rest." I tell her.

"Okay," she says.

We work like that for a what feels like a while. We all manage two to three monsters at a time, Ely protecting Sophia, and us paying attention to ourselves and calling out to others when necessary. A sinister part of me can't help but imagine that this is what it will be like when we finally go to war.

"M," Jake calls out, "there are more, can you take them out?"

"I don't know if I can control it. I don't want to risk hurting anyone." I tell them.

I couldn't lose control, not just for them but for the mortals near us as well. Unlike most of the weapons here, my lightning could harm them.

"The humans scattered and if we time it right, we can get out of here. Will you hurt yourself?" Tony asks.

"No. No I'll be okay." I tell them.

I know they're getting weak. We can't push on like this.

"Okay. Ely, grab Sophia, Allison and the twins," Tony says, "I'll get the rest. The rest of you, get as close as possible."

Ely throws Sophia onto her back and the twins run to her, jumping on there as well. She races to Allison as I raise my sword and I see her snag the girl by her shirt with her teeth, and then they're in the shadows. I call out to my father, praying that I can control this. I feel the pull in my chest. Everyone's gathered around for Tony to grab them, but Katelynn. A monster is lingering over her and she doesn't have another dagger. I try to call out to her, but Tony is there before I can say anything. All of this traveling is bound to have consequences on him later, but none of us can think about that. He lifts her, disappearing again, and then he takes the rest of the crowd.

Now I'm all alone. And they notice that. The air around me had gotten thicker, harsher. I even managed to slice through some of the monsters closest to me with just the wind alone. I feel the pull deepen until my chest aches, I feel my heart pulsing so hard it's like it'll leap out of my chest. This was it. The sky had darkened, so dark it almost looked like it might be night. Lightning lashed around the skies, some hitting the ground already.

Some charge forward, ready to kill me. I scream as I feel my chest ache the hardest I've ever felt, and I swing out my sword, lightning dancing from my hands down the shaft and finally the point of my sword. The lightning from the sky rains down at this time as well, suddenly there's not a single monster around me.

I feel myself swaying so I stab my sword down into the grass, holding onto it as I feel myself press forward. I'm on my knees instantly and it feels hard to breathe. I'm panting and I'm exhausted. Ely appears before me, a small whimper escaping her mouth as she looks at me. I see why. My clothes are in tatters, which normally doesn't happen when I channel lightning. I guess I was a little out of my own league this time. Jase jumps off of Ely, pulling off the white button down he'd been wearing over his green Camp Half-Blood shirt. The button up even had our seal on it. He kneels next to me, pulling the shirt over me and some of our friends run over.

"That was insane, M, you could have died," Jake snaps, running up to his brother and me.

I couldn't even respond.

"Are you okay?" Allison asked.

I couldn't move.

"What's wrong with her?" Sophia asks softly.

My vision was blurring.

"Maliah?" Katelynn asks.

I fall forward, and my vision gives way.

"So much for shopping," Jase mumbles, catching me.