Michael
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We didn't make it to California. We didn't even make it to Ohio.
Right off the bat, it was hard dealing with Bianca and Katie in such an enclosed space. We had taken a car that I may-or-may-not have stolen and I forced them both to be in the back so that there wouldn't be any hard feelings about someone sitting shotgun.
Almost instantly, they started fighting. Not physically, but it might as well have been. They scooted as far from each other as possible, hugging the doors. They refused to look at or speak to each other.
We were almost out of New York before Bianca asked, "Where are we going, Michaela?"
I was about to answer when Katie said, "Didn't you hear? We're going to California. Or did she not tell you like she did me?"
"I told her," I said. "She might've just forgotten. It was hard enough to get you both to agree to go with each other."
"Why is she coming along, anyway?" Katie demanded.
"I need you both. We're going to reveal something about my past, and I want you both there for it."
"Why not just bring me?" Bianca asked. "I've known you since we were twelve years old, so I'll know your past the best!"
"You met once, then didn't see each other again for years," Katie said. "I've been with her for almost three years now. She's told me all about her past, so I think I'd know more about her past than you."
They continued on like that, both making good points, and then making utterly stupid claims. It went on until we were halfway through Pennsylvania when I pulled over to get gas.
"Here, let me," Bianca offered as I pulled out my wallet to pay. She pulled a black credit card from the shadows of her hair. "My father gave both me and Nico one. Infinite cash, so we needn't worry about gas or anything."
She did the gas while I hopped back in the car. Katie was slouching in her seat, her arms crossed.
"Chin up," I told her. "We're going to Cali. We can go to the beaches on the coast, see the San Francisco bridge, and visit Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco."
"Will she be there?" She tilted her head in Bianca's direction.
I frowned. "Yes. Why is her presence such a problem?"
Katie grunted. "You wouldn't understand."
"Fucking try me."
She glared at me, but couldn't keep it. She sighed, sinking lower.
"She's trying to take you," she murmured.
"Take me? Where?"
"Not like that, Michaela! She's trying...I'm afraid she's going to take you away from me, okay? There, I said it! Fuck!"
I reached over and placed a hand on her leg. Her eyes, which were the color of the sweetest chocolate, were teary.
"No one's going to take me away from you," I promised. "Not even her. But that doesn't mean I don't-"
Bianca opened the door and climbed inside. "Gas is done." She eyed us but didn't say anything. "We're ready to go."
I smiled. "Great. Thanks, B." I looked at Katie once more and patted her leg comfortingly. Then I turned around and started the car.
Soon we were on our way again, driving down the highway. Unfortunately, about thirty minutes into the drive, Katie suddenly said, "Pull over!"
I jumped. It had been silent since we left and I wasn't expecting much conversation to happen with them.
"What? Why?"
"You have to use the bathroom?" Bianca asked scathingly.
"No, you dimbo. Look. Someone's being attacked."
I did my best to look where she was pointing while staying in my lane. She was right. Off to our right, a huge, three-headed monster rampaged the countryside, spewing fire into the air. Even from here, I could see a lion head, a snakehead, and a goat head. It had a lion's front half, a goat's back half, and a snake's tail.
"It's the chimera!" Katie exclaimed. "Michaela!"
"On it!" I booked it to get to the offramp, which was conveniently right ahead. We barreled down the deserted ramp before riding down the street towards the monster. The road soon ended, forcing us to get out. As we got closer we saw that the chimera wasn't simply running around. It was chasing a woman.
"Wait, stay back, Michaela," Bianca warned. She unsheathed her knives. "You have to stay safe."
"Yeah," Katie agreed, which surprised me. "You need to keep the baby safe."
Hm. Who knew keeping me safe would be the one thing they agreed about?
"I can fight from afar," I assured them. "I'll use my ice." Mist rose from my hands in proof.
Neither of them seemed to like it, but the chimera roared and the woman screamed, causing them to focus on that.
"Katie, wait," I said before they could charge away. I took off one of my rings and gave it to her. "Use what I've taught you."
She nodded and took the ring. She put it on and twisted it. Freeze sprang to life in her hand.
Bianca looked a little miffed at Katie receiving the ring but didn't have time to bitch about it. They ran forward, aiming to block the chimera from the woman.
Bianca sped ahead of Katie. She slid under one of the chimera's paws, slicing across its chest with one of her knives. The chimera hissed but didn't seem to be in much pain.
Katie ran up and stabbed one end of Freeze into the monster's side, causing it to rear back on its goat legs. She withdrew the double-bladed staff and slashed upward across its stomach.
As for me, I caught up to the woman. She was beautiful, with black eyes that seemed to sparkle with stars, and black hair, darker than Bianca's.
"Hey, it's okay," I told her as she stumbled to a stop in front of me. "We're going to save you."
"Save me?" she demanded. "How?"
I smirked. "Watch."
Mist curled from my arms. I thrust a hand out and a cloud of ice flew towards the Chimera. Katie and Bianca both ran out of the way, leaving the Chimera to get a face full of ice crystals.
It clawed at its eyes, going for multiple heads at once. The girls took advantage of its predicament and went for the kill. Bianca jumped high and brought her blades down on the lion's neck while Katie went to stab the goat head.
But before they could strike, the chimera suddenly disappeared. Bianca and Katie exclaimed loudly as they fell to the ground.
"What the fuck!" Katie yelled. They pushed themselves to their feet and looked around. "Where the hell did it go?"
They looked high and low as I jogged up to them. Well, to the best of my ability, at least.
"It didn't die," Bianca said. "There's no dust."
"Indeed it didn't," the woman behind me said. I turned and nearly tripped on my feet.
The woman was now cloaked in a robe of darkness and small bits of shining light dispersed intermittently. Her blacker-than-black hair was now in an elaborate braid on her head.
She floated a few feet above the ground as she smiled at us.
"You three passed my test perfectly," she said. Her voice was soothing, like it was telling me to go to sleep. "Ran to the aid of a mortal in peril, chased by the chimera. Fearlessly challenged it, and would've managed to greatly damage it had I not intervened."
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to keep the drowsiness out of my voice.
"Hm hm hm." She smiled. "It will be revealed soon."
The ground began to rumble.
"What's happening?" Katie exclaimed. She and Bianca pressed against me.
"I will see you soon," the woman said. Then the ground opened up and we fell into darkness.
I woke up in a dimly lit room. The ceiling was dark, faded red. And it was silent.
I pushed myself up and looked around. The room was bare. I was on the only piece of furniture, and the only thing on the wall was a door, though I guess it was in the wall rather than on.
I got up and made my way to the door. Before I could grab the doorknob, it swung open. Standing there was a tall, purple and pink winged man standing there. He had inky black hair, which looked amazingly sexy, and alluring purple eyes.
"Ah, the woman of the hour," he said, his voice as smooth as silk. "Michaela Triest. I'm glad you are awake. My sister didn't rough you up too bad on the way down, did she? Are your children alright?"
I blinked. "Your sister? Wait, children?!"
He nodded. "She was the woman who...well, kidnapped you, I guess. Your two lovers woke up not five minutes ago. We've been keeping them apart until you awoke. Come, I'll bring you to them."
He moved and gestured for me to come out. He closed the door as soon as I stepped out and began walking down the hall.
"Where are we?" I asked as I followed him, staring at the walls. They were as blank as the room and the same shade of red.
"Currently, we are in Tartarus," he said casually. "This is where we normally meet, as it's far enough away from the Olympians that they won't notice."
"Yeah, Tartarus is about as far as you can get." I frowned. "Wait, isn't Tartarus supposed to kill demigods like me? The air's supposed to be acidic and the ground broken glass..."
"That is outside of my brother's castle," he told me. "In here, you are safe from those dangers. Though do mind the dungeons. They have some very nasty occupants."
He stopped in front of a door.
"Here is where the daughter of Demeter resides. In this one," he gestured to the door on the opposite side, "is where the daughter of Hades is. I do hope you resolve your love issue with them."
"I have an idea on how," I said absently. "Say, you never told me your name."
He grinned sexily. "I didn't, did I? My name is Eros, son of Chaos."
"Michaela, daughter of Selene."
He laughed. "Yes, I know." He turned. "I will come for you three later. Please resolve your issue before then."
"I'll try," I called as he walked away. I looked between the two doors and breathed deeply. I knocked on them both and waited. Within seconds, the doors opened to reveal Bianca and Katie.
"Michaela!" they exclaimed simultaneously. They rushed to hug me, but stopped when they saw each other doing the same thing.
"Let's go into Bianca's room," I said, grabbing their hands and dragging them inside. ''We have a lot to talk about."
In this room was a set of chairs and a bed. It was like whoever lived here knew I was going to use this room. Weird.
"What do you want to talk about?" Katie asked as we sat down.
"You two." They stared at me. "More specifically, how you treat each other."
"Well-" Bianca started, but I cut her off.
"No, we're not starting this again. Look, I'm going to be honest here. I'll tell the truth, and at the end, I have a suggestion. It's something I've been thinking about for a while now, but you both will need to agree to it."
"Okay," Katie said with a nod.
"Go ahead and tell us," Bianca encouraged.
I took a deep breath. "I love you both, okay? There's no denying that. I've known you both for a long time, been close to you both since we first met. I've kissed you both, fucked you both."
"Been fucked by us, you mean," Katie corrected while Bianca blushed.
"Whatever. My point is, I'm in love with both of you, and have been very intimate with you both, too. I...I can't choose between you two. I've always been indecisive, I'm sure you know. I've always been forced to choose between things I like ever since I was a kid. Did I want to spend time with my mother or my sister? Did I want to accept my step father or stand by my sister in disliking him? Did I...did I cause my sister to die or was it someone else's fault?"
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I let out the thoughts that had been plaguing me for such a long time.
"And every decision I've made has made life worse for me. I never seem to choose the right way to go. So I've grown with this indecision, and it's never gotten better. And here I am now with the two people I love most in the world, once again being forced to choose. But I don't want to choose. All this indecision...It brings up another question. Do I want to live with it...or not live at all?"
"Michaela..." Katie breathed.
I looked up at them. They both had sorrowful and shocked expressions, as if they couldn't believe I'd say such a thing.
"Please," I begged, "don't make me choose again."
They glanced at each other and a silent conversation ensued. Katie sighed.
"We won't, Michaela," she said. She took my hand in hers. "It'll be tough, but we won't make you choose. You can..." Her hand tightened. "You can be with Bianca. You're having her child, afterall."
Bianca, for her part, didn't seem so excited. She just nodded. But this isn't what I meant.
"No!" I shouted. They both jumped in their seats. "No! I don't want just one of you! I want both of you to be with me!"
They looked at each other again, this time with unease and curiosity in their eyes.
"Michaela," Bianca started, "are you suggesting we...we become a...a trio?"
I nodded.
Katie blew out a breath. "That's some suggestion. But, I think..." She looked at Bianca again. She tilted her head and half shrugged. "I think I can get by it. Gods have done crazier things."
Bianca seemed to be struggling with the idea. I couldn't blame her. She was raised in a time where such a suggestion was taboo.
"I...I don't know," she admitted. "It's so..."
"Bianca, you've already had sex, and with a woman," Katie deadpanned. "Is it really such a big deal to add another woman into the mix?"
She sighed. "I guess not. It'll take some getting used to, but I think I can come to understand it."
I looked between them, my mouth open. "You-You mean it?"
They smiled and nodded. I laughed and cried in relief. I pulled them into a hug. If there was any uncomfortability between them, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that they both hugged me tightly.
"Oh, beautiful!" said a voice, followed by sniffles. We all looked at the door to see Eros dabbing his eyes with a magenta handkerchief. "Just beautiful! True love, flourishing to life!"
"Who are you?" Katie asked, moving to stand in front of Bianca and I.
"It's okay," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at me. "He's okay. His name is Eros."
Bianca let out an eep. "The god of love?"
Eros nodded. He tucked the handkerchief away in his shirt pocket. "The primordial, actually. The god Eros...he's another form mortals gave me. A son of Aphrodite and Ares. Truly, I am a son of Chaos, the first being."
"Why are you here?" Katie asked. "Why are we here?"
"Both those questions are easily answered. I am here to take you to meet my brothers and sisters."
"Brothers and sisters...You mean the other primordials."
Eros smiled. "Yes. Come along. They are not all as patient as I am."
