Yay! Quick update!
Dec. 24.
Part two.
"Hey Mark," Audrey said unconcernedly, turning around. "I didn't think your loyalty would be bought so easily."
I looked at Mark. He stared back. Rude.
"Is this the Hunter?" he asked. "You told me you hated any Greek demigod that. Now you're helping a Greek prisoner escape while committing treason and stealing weapons. And you accuse me of having easily-bought loyalty."
"I know you," I muttered, half to myself. "You're one of those guys that went over to the Titans during the second Titan War. Son of…"
"Nemesis."
"Yeah, that's right. But you're a Greek Demigod. Why are you with a Roman emperor?"
He snorted. "I believe in revenge and balance. You Greeks dumped all the minor gods' children, and you didn't even bother with us until it was clear that if you didn't give us some respect, that we could and would overpower you. Then you give us some cabins and try to pretend you never ignored us."
"Mark," Audrey started.
"I know," I interrupted her. "I know we ignored you, and I'm not trying to just pretend it never happened. But we did the best we could to make amends. We treat you as equals. Do you not know that Jason Grace himself vowed to represent every single god and goddess, no matter how minor, at Temple Hill?" I wrinkled my nose. "Great. Now I sound like some senator running for office. I've definitely spent too much time around those Athena kids," I muttered to myself.
Audrey gave a small snort of laughter. Even Mark's mouth twitched, though I may have imagined it.
"So, anyways," Audrey said, "either you come with us, or you let us go."
Mark sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't let you go. Audrey, please. Don't make me do this."
Audrey's mouth quirked. "You know that sounds so cliche, right? But as I was going to say, 'sorry about this.'" quick as lightning, she drew her sword and slammed the hilt into his forehead. You could practically see Mark's eyes vibrating as he crumpled to the ground. Audrey sighed. "I really love you, dummy. But sometimes, you're just so dense." she knelt and kissed him. I quickly looked away.
"Not a word," she warned. "Not a word."
I couldn't help but give her a teasing grin. "Suuuure." she gave me a withering glare. "Fine. fine."
"We've wasted enough time already," she said briskly, trying to hide bright red cheeks. "We need to get moving."
"Uh huh. Do you have, like any wilderness around here? Like woods or something?" I asked.
"Uh, we have some wooded areas in the outskirts, but if you want proper cover we'll need a few hours' drive in any direction."
"'Kay. Just get us to some more wild area than downtown Indianapolis."
Audrey stood, brushing her hand against Mark's. "Right." she said, ignoring my smirk. "This way."
We made our way across Indianapolis, occasionally skirting around search parties, and finally came to a set of train tracks. On either side were some wooded areas, decorated with plastic bags and other junk.
"You and I have very different definitions of the word 'wilderness'." I mumbled. Audrey ignored me.
"So, what's the plan?" she asked, an hour or two later, and when we were into a proper forest.
I shrugged. "I guess we're going to Camp Jupiter first. Everything in between? I dunno. I have a pegasus, we can ride, or something like that."
Audrey shook her head. "No. I don't know how to ride a horse. And I'm terrible with animals. They hate me. But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. There's this kind of travel thing called Apparating that we children of Trivia can do. But without my wand I'll probably pass out afterwards."
"Wait. You have wands?"
"Yes, but we don't need them. Wands let us do magic without using so much energy, but most of us rarely carry them due to the fact that they break really easily, and if you're carrying a sword and shield, you don't have another hand for a wand." she explained.
"Cool," I said. "But we should probably spend the night here. I, for one, don't want to be stranded likely to be dangerous off guard." Audrey agreed, muttering in the affirmative.
We found a shelter in the trees, and I started rummaging around in my backpack. I found a length of rope, and other climbing gear, some nectar and ambrosia, a bottle of silvery liquid I didn't recognize, a first aid kit, matches, an extra pair of jeans and a T-shirt, a flashlight, and finally, a small cloth the size of a pack of gum.
"Bingo!" I said, holding up the cloth and stuffing the rest of the stuff back into the backpack.
"What's that?" Audrey asked, wrinkling her nose.
I smirked. "It's a tent." I said, remembering saying the same thing to Julianna when I first joined the Hunters.
"No way."
"Yes way. Stand back." I tossed the cloth on the ground, and it immediately expanded into a 10x10 tent.
"Yes way," Audrey amended as the checked the tent out.
"Be my guest." I gestured to the entrance of the tent that now dominated our campsite. "I'll take first watch."
I could hear Audrey looking around the tent. A moment later, she came back out, holding a piece of paper. "I think this is for you," she said, handing me the silvery sheet of paper.
I took it, and groaned, reading it. It said,
Too de-aktivate the tent, sa 'Thalia is the best'.
Yo'ure weelcom,
~ Thalia
"You know," I muttered to myself, "I wonder how demigods get by with dyslexia."
"We don't," Audrey said drily. "But I do know that we half-bloods that can do magic just use translating spells. And it seems that Roman demigods' dyslexia is much less severe than the Greeks'." she raised an eyebrow, as if challenging me to a contest.
"Yeah," I shot back, not missing a beat, "but we Greeks have better demigod technology, while you Romans are still stuck with aqueducts. Those went out of style a few thousand years ago."
"The Romans conquered the Greeks."
"When the Roman empire fell, it was the Greek side that survived, not the Roman side."
Audrey wrinkled her nose. "Well, it's getting late. I should get some sleep. Don't be a hero and wake me up in a few hours."
I grinned. "As you wish."
I sat squatted down and started to build a fire, first arranging the leaves and small sticks in a pile, then gathered a large pile of dry wood. Using one of the matches, I started the fire, then, once I got a good fire going, I pulled out my diary (which I'm writing on right now), and started to write. The night is cold, but the fire is warm. Audrey snores in her sleeping bag. Great. Now I'm sounding like Apollo.
As usual, please like, comment and subscribe, constructive criticism is always welcome. Also, who's already dying from school the first day back? *raises hand*.
Good Hunting!
~ HunterofArtemis01