I figured I owe you guys a chapter, though I haven't had much creativity of late. Maybe because I'm writing a SSB fic with my friends.
2
Jay POV
As I wander the streets, I can't help thinking Maya's right about Theresa. But I've gone to three florists, found nothing that was not corny or cheesy, and now I'm giving up in favor of chocolates.
Girls like chocolate, right? I think so, I mean, whenever I catch Theresa reading those smut novels and watching romantic movies, she seems to be munching on chocolates. And ot the crappy kind either, no, she likes the good kind, like truffles and Lindt and all that stuff. I grab a few boxes and am walking down the street when I run into Archie and Atlanta.
"Chocolates, Jay?" Atlanta teases, scanning the boxes. "Aren't you on like a super-boy health thing?"
I groan inwardly and smile nervously.
"They aren't for me," I say.
"The who? Theresa? Maya?" Archie asks. My eyes widen.
"Just because Maya and I discuss leadership stuff does NOT make us anything more than friends!" I tell them in a voice that leaves no room for argument.
Archie and Atlanta hold up their hands in an 'I-surrender' pose.
"So Theresa?" Atlanta asks. I nod slowly, biting my lower lip. She throws her arms around my neck and I almost drop the chocolates.
"It's about damn time!" Archie says. I give him a smirk.
"I could say the same for you. Or have you not done anything yet?" My smirk grows wider as he blushes scarlet and Atlanta pulls away. Before Archie can change his mind and decide to be pissed instead of embarrased, I take off down the street.
"Jay!" Archie yells. I turn the corner and duck behind a building as he sprints past, Atlanta following but stopping when she reaches me.
"I'll keep him off your case for a bit. Just go find Theresa." And with that, she bolts after him.
I sigh in relief and walk out of my hiding place, walking back toward the brownstone.
...
I will admit it: I wimp out at the last second. I leave the chocolates outside her door, knock, then practically do a Henderson down the stairs and out of sight. I hear her door open, then a soft chuckle.
"Jay," she says. "Brave enough to battle a God, but won't even deliver his own chocolates." And then her door shuts. I look up, she's gone.
"Smooth," Herry says. I jump.
"When did you get good at sneaking?" I ask.
"When you failed to notice anything but Theresa," Herry laughs at my expression and heads up the stairs. I groan and rub my face.
She's worth it.
Maya's POV
I crack my neck and knuckles as I stand across from Bruno. He and I've decided to do some training, if we can do nothing else. We're holding wooden poles, since Mars knows us and won't let us near the actual weapons. Apparently there's too much of a chance we'll kill each other.
"It's not too late to back out," Bruno tells me with a smirk.
"I was about to say the same to you," I retort. He grins and takes one step toward me. I push the tip of my pole into the ground and vault over him, twisting and kicking his back as I fall. I land on my feet as he stumbles and almost trips. He whips around and swings at my head. I bend back and use my hands to balance myself as I kick him in the chest with both feet.
Bruno falls back and I leap, straddling him and holding his hands down with mine. He starts laughing and I grin.
Suddenly, Jay clears his throat, and Bruno and I split apart, blushing. Jay arches an eyebrow.
"He's been spotted," he tells us. I groan.
"Again?" I ask.
"Again." Jay agrees. Bruno and I grab some real weapons before going after Jay.
He's in a warehouse when we catch up to him. We've taken out his cronies already, and soon we close in, like a pack going in for the kill. I have one of those fancy whips like Archie, ad I use it to pull myself up onto the rafters.
Cronus looks upon the lot of us.
"What is this? Thirteen heroes?" he asks. I feel my inner sarcasm flow through
"This? Well, this is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will, five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain and one hundred percent reason to remember the name!" And with that, I lob a lightning bolt at him, almost knocking him off his feet, but not quite. He just smirks up at me.
"Well, I would, but I don't know it."
I jump down from my place and walk so I'm less than a foot apart from him.
"You will, believe me. I will make sure it's burned into your brain while you rot in Tartarus."
"Sorry, miss, but that's not going to happen." He pulls out his scythes and swings at me. I bend backwards, onto my hands, and then kick up, clipping him in the temple with my booted foot and back flipping to my feet.
Cronus wipes the blood off his forehead.
"Bruno! Now!" I call. The Brazilian boy leaps into action, brandishing his ax.
"Wait, attack as a unit!" Jay calls. "Distract him."
"This is one of those times the two of them are going to get us in trouble, isn't it?" Neil asks.
"Most likely," Markkis agrees, taking his sword from his baldric and holding it in a ready position.
"You heroes are all the same," Cronus says boredly. "All talk and no action."
"And that's where you're wrong!" Archie swings his whip. Cronus lets it wrap around his scythe, then yanks on it, pulling Archie forward. My eyes widen and I throw my sword at the evil God with deadly precision. It sinks into his shoulder, causing him to let go of Archie. Everybody's attacking the god now; I can barely tell what's happening. There's smoke; either Jared's been letting off smoke bombs or something's on fire…
My head's spinning as I fall sideways, my head making contact with the cement floor, effectively knocking me out.
This again?
...
We're on a rooftop, battling the god of time. Theresa aims a high kick at his head, but he grabs her foot and whips her backward.
"Does this guy never give up?" Bruno demands.
"No," Jay says, ducking to avoid Jared, who's been tossed across the roof. I scowl and jump over a table, using my powers to propel myself forward. I swing my blade in an arc, almost slicing his arm off. He growls and flings his arm out behind me before slamming me through one of his portals...
...
"Maya!" Somebody's saying, telling me to wake up. I feel people grabbing at me, and I punch out. My fist makes contact before somebody grabs my wrist in a grip so firm it almost hurts. I try to kick, but somebody has my legs already. I scream.
"You have got to stop punching Jared in your sleep! It's becoming a habit!" Somebody says. Cold water splashes over my face and I sputter, sitting up and blinking. Jared's on the ground, holding his nose. I almost start laughing except my head aches and that dream...
I rub my temples, bringing my knees to my chest. Bruno sits next to me and grabs my hand comfortingly. "You okay?" he asks.
"I think so," I say. "What happened after I blacked out?"
"We got Herry to take you back here. We almost had Cronus, but he ran, like the coward his is," Jay says. I nod.
"Thank you," I say to Herry, who rubs the back of his head.
"Don't mention it," he tells me, shrugging. I roll my shoulders back and leap out of bed. The seven heroes look at my team like they're crazy for letting me get up right after that.
"We couldn't stop her if we tried," Matt shrugs and sits down on the edge of my bed. I walk to the window. Nobody's outside and I really need to go loosen up my muscles, so I throw the window open, sit on the sill and swing my legs outside. I'm about to drop down when somebody hauls me back in. I look up at Jay, arching an eyebrow.
"No way am I letting you do that," he says. "I'll sit in here all day and all night if I have to."
"Drama queen much?" I ask teasingly, standing and shaking free of his grip. I sit next to Bruno and cross my arms. "If it means that much to you I won't go jumping out of windows, but you can't keep me locked inside," i say. He sighs.
"Fine."
...
I border on the sleeping and waking world that night. Every time I fall asleep, the dream haunts me. It's the dream from when we lost the bane of my existence, and two very good friends at the same time. The dream goes a little something like this:
"I've found a way to make you suffer, Maya. By hurting somebody important to you," Pluto tells me through my prison. I was trapped inside an energy shield. "Now, who to kill," he acts as if it's a hard descision, but I know who he wants to murder.
Jared.
Matt.
The person I used to think I loved, and my older brother. That would knock me down, not just a few pegs, but about six thousand feet. Probably straight into a cell inTartarus.
Just sentence me now, King Midos.
"If you touch them, I swear to Jupiter, I'll kill you!" I scream, pounding on the energy shield. Pluto laughs.
"Temper, temper," he says. My eyes flash and lightning cracks inside the prison.
"Maya!" Jared yells. He's reached us. I see the other six behind him.
"Jared stop!" I try to warn him, but Pluto's already thrown out an attack.
"Watch out, bonehead," Karlos grabs Jared and yanks him back. Amonia and Bruno reach them next.
"Guys, don't!" I think they're ignoring me, because they all approach Pluto, weapons raised.
I hate how much they'd do for me.
Pluto cakcles and swipes at Jared again. Amonia surprises us by throwing herself in the way, caught in the god's grip. Her blond hair tumbles down and I know she's searching for her powers. You don't get to be a daughter of Venus for nothing.
Love and beauty aren't helpful. Pluto takes a wicked looking knife and looks at me, as if to say, 'this is your fault.'
And it is.
"Maya! I never did anything for you, so count this as me getting to be the hero for a change," She says. The knife slashes. A single tear trails down my cheek.
"AMONIA!" I scream. There's a stunned silence as Pluto throws her body into the abyss behind him. "You Bastard!" I'm pounding on the cage.
"I will not be shown up by children!" Pluto seethes.
"Father, stop!" Karlos pleads. I see the little boy with an abusive father, begging for attention. Puto backhands him and he's knocked against a jagged rock twenty feet from me.
"Karlos..." I trail off, collapsing on my knees. I have no energy to scream.
"Well, Thanatos?" Pluto asks. "Have we made up for the amount of souls she's worth?" The god turns to his son.
"Karlos isn't dead yet," The god of death replies. "And then we'll have made it up. Each demigod soul is worth two." He nods.
"You'd kill your own son?" Markkis demands. I blink. I feel like a hollow shell.
"Yes," Pluto says simply. He grabs Karlos and recruits another soul to the collection. I squeeze my eyes shut as reality rips through me.
Karlos and Amonia are dead.
It's all my fault.
Jay's POV
I wake up to Markkis panting on our doorstep.
"We need help," he says. "Maya's not waking up."
I nod and we sprint down to the other brownstone, me barefoot and Markkis in socks. When we reach the other leader's room, Matt's holding her down to calm the thrashing, and Bruno's trying to wake her up. Jared's trying to get her to stop screaming. She punches out. Hits him in the face. Bruno grabs her wrist.
"That's the sixty-seventh time since we got together that she's punched him in the face in her sleep," he comments dryly.
"Second time since I met you," i add.
"Bruno's wrong. I've counted at least eighty," Carey says.
"Nu-uh!" Bruno says.
"Yeah," She counters.
"Shut up I'm tryin to sleep," Maya murmurs.