Chapter 15

MEG POV

(A/N Rick owns his characters, I own mine.)

Of course it would be Myrmekes. The stupid ants were up there with Pandai, Eurynomos and Vrykolakai as Meg's least favourite monsters. They had shells impervious to godly metals, acidic saliva and they ranged in size from a motorbike to bigger than a Sherman tank. Meg raised her hands, and the grass from the front gardens across the road erupted, a blockade of roots as high as a house stopping the advancement. Thankfully her comrades had heeded her words, apart from the new guy who stood in shock of her powers. Meg took a step toward him. "I told you to-" Her words died off as she almost collapsed.

"Whoa there, Poison Ivy." Robin caught her and started walking down the road, his arm holding her up.

"Don't call me that, Toxicodendron Radicans is a horrible plant. It strangles others and is a blight in the garden." Robin laughed.

"I meant the super villain. That's the reason you almost passed out, right? Exertion of your powers and all that?" Meg nodded.

"Usually I can do a large summon without much backlash, but all the small stuff must've added up." Robin chuckled.

"Well, as long as you're sure you aren't doing it to be held by me." Meg's senses immediately went on high alert. Is he flirting with me? Should I flirt back? Why is he doing that? For all her nonchalantness and confidence, Meg had never come anywhere close to being in a relationship. Heck, she'd barely ever had a crush, apart from a fleeting love for Percy Jackson when she had first met him, (A/N honestly who didn't) and that had been quashed hard when she found out about Annabeth. She had bested hundreds of monsters, but she fell completely and utterly flat when it came to boys. Robin must've sensed the tension in her shoulders, because he chuckled and shifted her position, so that now he had his arm around her waist and her head was on his shoulder.

"Nah, it's all good. We'll get you back to my house, get you patched up, you'll be good as-" He was cut off by a hiss from behind. The ants had cut through the roots with their acid and were marching towards them. Meg cursed and forced her body to extricate itself from Robin's grip (as good as it felt, in spite of herself.) Still feeling like someone had nailed her in the gut with a sandbag, she turned with scimitars ready and faced the monsters. A shriek from above signalled another Gryphon. This one seemed a lot bigger and angrier than the others, presumably it was the Alpha, come to get revenge for his pack. Meg cursed and handed her swords to Robin. "What am I supposed to do with these? I'm a boxer, remember, not a swordsman."

"Imperial Gold is going to do you a lot better than some leather bands. Get after Chris and Clarisse, take them to your house. Tell them-" Meg's voice broke. "Tell them to continue without me. I can summon a barrier in front of the Myrmekes again. Probably knock me out and I'll be at the mercy of the Gryphon, but then it won't take interest in you. I'm the more powerful demigod. If they take me out, they probably won't go for you." Robin looked into her eyes, forest green meeting earthy brown.

"Oh no. I'm not leaving you behind. Do your plant magicky stuff. I'll protect you." Meg shook her head at the hopelessness of the situation. The two veteran demigods were at the other end of the road, too far away to help. This vlacas wouldn't leave her, and she was probably going to be slowly digested in the stomach of one of her least favourite monsters. Suddenly, Meg felt her feet leave the ground as the Gryphon took hold of her backpack. "NO!" Meg felt a blast of heat pass over her head and she dropped to the ground, landing on her side. That's going to leave a mark, she thought to herself, but all pain was forgotten as she realised what had happened. Robin was standing in awe, looking at his fist which still had smoke curling off it. Overhead was another fist, flaming and orange. He looked at Meg for assurance.

"Whatever you just did, do it again!" He nodded, turned to the Myrmekes and stretched his fists out. Two red-hot jets of fire poured from his knuckles, incinerating the giant ants. Soon all that was left of the three monsters were piles of ash and a half-melted ant carapace. Meg glanced again above his head, where the last vestiges of a flaming fist could be seen. Chris and Clarisse were standing in shock down the road.

"What the heck did I do?" Robin was standing in amazement, examining his hands as if looking for burns. Meg swallowed and looked at him.

"I think… we just found out who your parent is.

(A/N Dun dun duuuun! This chapter is short and I apollo-gise for that. Not for the pun though. Guess who Robin's parent is, and hint: not Hephaestus. Leo told the others his dad only gives power over fire to special demigods, ones that could change the future and who were at pivotal moments in history. If that was true, then where was Robin four years ago? Anyways, sorry about the short chapter, review to guess who Robin's dad is (will be revealed next week or Wednesday/Thursday) and as always,

Vaya con Queso,

DamaSENDhimafriend