AN: Thanks to Stef.235 and the anonymous lori for their reviews and encouragement. Also thanks to JasperDavis. And lori, thank you for helping me with the chapter title (albeit unintentionally). I now present:
We Have Anger Management Issues
My eyes shot open, staring wildly up at the water-stained ceiling. I rolled over and clambered to my feet, reliving every moment of the dream, fixing it in my memory. "We have to stop them." Beside me in the semi-darkness, Crius sat bolt upright, hand on his sword hilt (Did he never take it off, even when he was sleeping?).
"Stop who, Nia?" he half-yawned, staggering towards me, narrowly missing Abigail's head with his big feet.
"Ares, Eris, and Ares' sons. One happy family." Minus Aphrodite and her brood. Thank whatever gods were on out side that they hadn't been included in the war party.
"What do they want?" he mumbled, blinking the remnants of sleep out of his now-blue eyes.
"I was just getting to that, Watch Boy. They want to make New York freak out, the dead to fight for them, and World War Three to break out. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. They also want to kill us." I watched his expression change from confusion to fear to anger/determination.
"They'll get nowhere near us," he growled, looking at Isis. Oh, honestly. As if that could impress her. Yet part of me, the irrational part that I was trying to squash, whispered that if she fell for him, I would be free to get-. I told myself to shut up before that little parasitic thought took over my brain. I prodded Abigail with my toe. She would be less prickly to wake up then Isis or Maria. Hopefully. As it turns out, she was just as bad, just slightly less vocal about it. Note to Self: never volunteer for waking-up duty ever again.
It was around six A.M. when we went on our way, pausing to steal some instant oatmeal from the house we kind of destroyed. The sky was still all dark and rumbling and heavily misting. The path of the fire was marked in ash mixed with mud, littered with wind-blown junk burnt to a crisp. Something caught my eye and I picked it up, wiping the sludge off so I could see the whole thing. It was a bronze figurine of seven horses pulling a chariot, partially melted by the inferno. "What's that?" said Maria, customary anger in her voice, probably at me "wasting time". I handed it to her, and she dropped it, muttering, "Useless."
"We can't just walk the rest of the way. It will take forever. What do we do?" demanded Abigail. The loud whinnying of a horse stopped us in our tracks. "What in Hades is that?" It was a chariot, pulled by seven pitch-black horses identical to the figurine except that the chariot now looked like multiple people could fit in it. Ordinary Greek chariots fit two people maximum, but this one was big enough for the entire Athena cabin.
"Did you hear them?" That was Maria, but her tone was doubtful, maybe even slightly scared.
"Hear what?" Isis was the first to ask what we all wanted to know.
"The horses. They talked to me. They said Lady, we will help you."
The horses talked to her, and she was visibly shaken. Both scary thoughts. "Did you forget to take your medicine? For schizophrenia. Hearing voices, you know." Some of her old anger returned to her eyes to glare at me. "Never mind, never mind. Let's go." We climbed into the chariot, and I hoped Maria could control the horses. If not, we were in big trouble. Turns out we were in big trouble anyway, because four figures appeared next to us nearly giving me a heart attack. And the feeling from the dream returned, except stronger.
Ares gave a wicked grin and said, "I'm gonna kill you now."
Well, because his freaking aura was so full of anger and violence and generally bad things that were messing with our minds, we weren't very happy about that. "That's what you think," said Maria. I could've slapped her, and almost did. "Just try it."
He smiled again. "Yeah, I think I will. Bring it on." And so she leaped out of the chariot and landed right in front of a ten-foot tall man with major muscles and two two-foot long double-bladed swords. Maria's scary sharp deadly spear looked suddenly fragile. I drew my knife and dagger and crouched into fighting position. Behind me, I heard the strangely musical sound of Crius's scimitar sliding from its sheath. The ugly woman next to Ares (Eris) smiled at us, but it wasn't a nice smile. It was more of the condescending you're-so-pathetic-I-won't-even-bother-killing-you smile. Isis pounced, but not on Eris. Crius swung around, his blade a golden arc of death. Thinking about it after, I realized that that really wasn't his normal behavior. It was Discord. He was trying to kill her, the girl that he had cried over just the night before, and vowed to protect.
"Come with us. Forget your useless friends and their loser gods. They'd only betray you." It was the voice from my dream, urging my to give up. And now Eris was after Julian. With a metallic swish, Abigail swept her knife through the space where Eris had stood, but she wasn't there anymore. "I'll get you later," she hissed at him, nimbly dodging Abigail's second strike.
I heard Isis yelp, then scream, "You ******* b******!". I spun around. Blood was flowing freely from a cut on her forearm, but she attacked viciously and screamed curses, punctuating each one with a jab or slash of her sword. Crius's face was strangely blank, his eyes glowing gold. He hissed various insults under his breath. He drew back and they began circling each other, like wolves about to fight. Just as they lunged, I stepped in between them, catching the blows on the hilts of both my blades.
I let out the breath that I had been holding. "Guys, calm down. Whatever happened, now is not the time. We have other enemies." Shock and confusion registered on both faces, but they twirled around, swords once again seeking each other's heart. I remember falling and rolling clear of the combatants, but that's about it.
Ares and Maria were still dueling, but Abigail, Scott, and Julian knelt, cowering, on the ground. The two big ugly guys were laughing like the freaks and maniacs they were. At that point, I felt a burst of hatred that had nothing to do with Ares. Abigail's face was stained with tears, and she was sobbing, "No, get away from me." Scott looked literally petrified and Julian's eyes darted around wildly, but I could tell he wasn't really seeing what was happening. Maria was holding her own, but her breathing was becoming frenzied and she had her trapped-animal face on. Crius's form was slipping, as was Isis's, as they became desperate, terrified even. The scene before me began melting away. I was crouched in a pit, with steep rocky walls, like a well or something. There was water seeping up around my feet and oozing from the walls. A couple small chunks of rock became dislodged and tumbled down towards me. When I tried to move my feet, the mud squelched and sunk them deeper. The sky overhead was ominous with the threat of a storm. A cool dank breeze stirred up the smell of things rotting underground and blood. I began to feel a tickling sensation running up my back and my legs like thousands of tiny feet. I saw nothing. Then I starting feeling it on my arms and head. It felt like spiders, which I hate because I am arachnophobic. Whenever I see spiders, I freeze and my mind goes into hyper alert total panic mode. All because of some silly contest between Arachne and my mom that resulted in Arachne being turned into a spider with a taste for revenge. I put a hand on the slimy rock wall, causing a shower of loose earth. Above me, huge figures appeared with the bodies of giant, terrifying, hairy spiders and the heads of humans.
Spidrens. But I thought they weren't real. You wouldn't think you'd be hearing that from a demigod, but see, I read a lot, even if I have to get a satyr to translate something into Ancient Greek first. And in this fantasy series (that really is fantasy, not like my story) there are these spider-human hybrids called spidrens. They are not from Greek mythology, and I held onto that thought. They can't be real. They can't be real. I fumbled for my knife, just to have a weapon in my hands. But there was really no way out. Monsters that couldn't be real surrounded me from above, ready to kill me should I survive the climb up a crumbling cliff, I couldn't control my limbs anyway because of the invisible spiders dancing around on my skin, and to top it off, if I didn't do something soon it wouldn't matter anyway because I was sinking at an astonishing rate. But I had to try. And I was here in this Pit of Torture because I had failed, and somehow I knew that as I held the knife aloft, searching the walls for a solid handhold. One of the invisible spiders reached my ear, and I reached up to squash it, but as I did so, I dropped the knife.
Pain shot through my foot, which I shouldn't have felt through all the quicksand. But my vision was quickly dissolving, to be replaced by the Kansas prairie and my friends. The only thing that remained was the pain in my foot. My knife was skewering the first two toes on my right foot, sending jolts of pain through my leg. This would make walking interesting. I yanked the knife out of my shoe, wincing as fresh pain rippled through my nerves. There would be time to examine it later. I wiped the blood off my knife onto the dead grass. Now was time to steel my mind and block out distractions. It was time to fight.
I flew at Eris, cackling away madly. She yelped in surprise and pulled a blade from the air. It was evil looking, dried blood crusted along its rusty iron surface. The pommel was an odd shape, like an apple jaggedly split in two. Like a broken heart. She feinted and lunged at my left side, still laughing wildly, but I parried the blow and stabbed at her chest. She blocked it with a rusty, bloodstained iron shield she'd conjured up and pulled out a dart made of a dull metal, possibly lead. I recognized it, but couldn't place what it was or why.
"Like my arrow, little girl? I borrowed it from Eros, as a little family favor. It's his lead arrow of hate. One touch and you'll despise the first person you see, even if you love them." Well, I wouldn't let it touch me. I was more determined then I'd ever been before. I stabbed quicker, blocked stronger, and fought harder, somehow still keeping my head. It was like one part of my mind stood back to analyze things while everything else was all adrenaline and instinct. Finally I saw an opening, and I lunged, slicing her shoulder. A deep, biting wound oozed ichor, the blood of the gods. Her face was the epitome of hatred. She gave me one last, long look before disappearing. Off hand, my mind was putting Eros and arrows and irrationality together and coming up with Aphrodite screwing with me, probably as revenge for my mother being able to defy her. That could wait until after this quest, though.
No longer laughing, the two big ugly guys, who I knew were Phobos and Deimos, fear and terror, pulled out black maces, studded with celestial bronze spikes. "Seems you've found a way to conquer your fears, little girl, but it never hurts to try again..." I was momentarily back in the well with the spiders, but I bit my lip hard and held on to the pain. The bigger guy, who I assumed was Deimos, said, "That's cool. We can still beat you up. Maybe that will bring terror to your heart, little girl."
"Would you stop calling me little girl?" I snarled. They circled, taunting me and saying, "Stupid little girlie." From the corners of my eyes, I made out Isis and Crius advancing, coming up next to me. Even though they were probably both horribly injured, they had decided to fight the real enemy. After that I lost track of them, except for a few golden streaks and brilliant blue-violet sparks.
"I'm not afraid of you. You're just big cowards who hide behind people's fear of you. I bet you can't actually fight. And you know what? You can't even come up with good insults. Like, little girl? How lame is that?" Maybe antagonizing two guys at least twice your size who also happen to be immortal isn't usually a good idea, but I just wanted to get the fight over with. They were going to attack me eventually, so they might as well do it now, instead of them picking the time. And besides, angry fighters fight reckless. They lunged in, charging blindly. I sidestepped, missing Phobos with my knife as he went by, because he twisted right into Crius's sword. I ducked around to prick his thigh. He stabbed at me, but I flitted under his arm and drew ichor near his hip. I stepped back and ducked a blow from Deimos. Phobos overextended, trying to bash my head in, and I chopped at his hand, slicing off the tip of his thumb. I dove to the ground, avoiding the burst of light as he took his true godly form and exited the battle.
I touched the pin that allowed me to turn invisible and sneaked up behind Deimos so he wouldn't see my footprints coming towards him. Of course, he was so stupid he might not have even noticed, but why take the risk? "My brother may have been a wimp who couldn't stand his own blood, but I'm not. It'll take longer to vanquish me." Oh, really? I stabbed him in the back and he swung around, meaty fist narrowly missing my face. He must've known I was distracted, because he took advantage of it. Pure terror shot through me like the pain had. Most of the cells in my body wanted to bolt and run away. I froze, trembling as I battled myself to stay and fight. I forced myself to calm down and think, resisting the urge to flee.
"Hey, ugly, come and get me. I'm right here." I jumped up and down in the mud, causing it to splash up. Deimos brought his mace crashing down, but I wasn't there anymore. Unfortunately, the edge of my coat snagged against one of the spikes and it pulled off. Now Deimos could see me. He lunged, swinging his mace in powerful strikes. I backed up, ducking and jumping to avoid his blows, when I discovered that I was backing up right into the back of Ares, which he would not appreciate. I swerved and maneuvered, looking for an opening while trying not to get killed. As Deimos's mace streaked towards me and I rushed to block it, my bad foot gave out and I slipped in the mud, sliding into Ares's ankles.
"Whoa! What's that?" He looked down, puzzled, and I saw Maria scamper off during his distraction. Thanks a lot, friend. "Hey, that's cool. You're laying at my feet and asking me to kill you." Not yet. I scrambled to my feet, keeping my eyes on both immortal opponents. I stood, tensed, leaning on one foot to alleviate the agony, my breathing heaving like a dying fish. Ares swung, and I dove out of the way at the last minute, rolling back to my foot to see him nearly stab his son. Deimos stumbled back and I took advantage of the moment to slash out at him.
He grunted, "This involves getting hurt too much. I'm out," and tossed his mace behind his shoulder as he left. I resisted the urge to yell 'Coward', which would most likely incite him to stay and fight. Julian, Abigail, and Scott straightened up slowly, like they were just waking up. The twins nodded and shifted into a fighting stance, shoulder to shoulder. Julian just charged in. Isis was futilely struggling to get up against the dead weight of Deimos's mace. I don't remember much of that fight, just the end, because I had to devote all of my energy to blocking Ares's attacks. Eventually Crius and I were the only ones still standing, and both almost worn down, with barely enough strength left.
Then the area behind Ares erupted in whinnies and hooves as the first few horses pulling the odd chariot reared up and thrashed their legs at him. He did the natural thing and backed up. I stuck my leg out and he tripped, falling on his butt with a huge squelch in the mud. Crius leveled his sword at his throat. "This isn't the last you'll see of me, insolent half-bloods," he declared, then I looked away as he started to glow. Once I was no longer fighting, I started taking notice of my injuries, and collapsed on the ground, my feet no longer able to support me. My jacket lay trampled in the mud nearby. I fumbled with the button, searching for the squashed ambrosia squares. I ate one, savored the rich, sweet taste for a few seconds, then steeled myself to examine my toes.
My shoe was drenched in blood, ripped where the knife hit it. A deep cut sliced across my big and second toes, just below the first joint, clear to the bone. Gingerly, I peeled of the shoe. Even that small motion caused agony. While I was doing that, the others had formed a loose circle of the ground next to me, and someone had dropped my pack off within reaching distance. I stretched and snagged my bottle of nectar. After having a quick sip and feeling the burning energy flood through me, I dripped a little on my toes. I knew it was dangerous to put so much into my body, but I needed to be able to walk. I doubted that flimsy band-aids would do much, but I put two on anyway. I cut off strips of cloth from an extra shirt to bandage my foot, held on by a slimy sock. I sliced open the toe of my right shoe and hacked off the damaged parts to make room for the bandages. Around me, the others were engaged in similar activities.
"Why were they here?" asked Isis.
"They were trying to kill us on their way to New York City. They want to cause a huge mortal war and free all of the dead from Hades."
"Then we should stop them," decided Abigail.
"But we're already on a quest," Maria reminded her.
"Then let Scott and I go." He nodded. "We really should do this."
Maria turned her back and murmured softly to the horses. "Have you given any thought to how you'll get there in time?" she demanded, wheeling around at Abigail and Scott, who shrugged. "I thought not," she smirked in that irritating smug way she has. "It just so happens that I spoke with the horses and two of them will carry you to New York."
Julian snorted. "Horseback isn't fast enough."
"Oh, really? Shows how much you know. I can arrange for instant transportation." She cut two of the horses out of their bronze and leather traces with the blade of her knife. "Get on, you two. We'll continue on to Colorado to save the world while you guys save New York." The mocking edge in her voice was more than I expected. Looking slightly queasy, Scott mounted the first horse and Abigail, swallowing nervously, mounted the second. Maria said something in a soft voice to the horses, who raced into the rain, fading from sight earlier than they should've. I suppose that meant they were on the other side of the country. "Now it's our turn."
"Let's go," ordered Isis. "We're wasting time."
AN: Sorry it's been so long. This will probably be my last post before summer vacation because I'm so busy being tormented by school.