A/N: School is finally out! And I did great on my finals! Thanks to the people who wished me luck. And without further to do…enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I watch it. I love it. I write a fic about it. But that doesn't mean I own it.
Chapter 5 Flower Power
The woods were getting thicker and thicker with each step. Theo drove the small party of two as if he had a death wish. Danny spent most of his time running or flying to stay with the demigod. The whole time Theo would sparsely talk to Danny. The boy was getting fed up with being ignored.
"Why were you banished and from where?" Danny suddenly asked out of the blue. He felt better once the big question floating around in his mind was out in the open.
One of Theo's cat ears spun around to catch Danny's sentence. Danny had spent a long time watching the demigod as they had walked through the deep forest for the past few hours. He was only Danny's height with fine, trim muscles. Instead of skin, he had very short, tan fur. Most of the time his brown hair hung in his face and ever observant chestnut colored eyes.
Like his fuzzy, twitching tail, Theo's eyes, and sometimes ears, were everywhere as they walked through the forest. It was like he was on the lookout for danger the whole time. For the first hour Danny had spent it looking around with worry. But he quickly found out that it was only part of Theo's personality complex.
Theo looked back at Danny, who had currently gotten himself caught in some thorns while asking the question, and frowned. He stopped and watched Danny struggle to get free as he answered, "I was banished from Egypt. The reason was that the gods from there didn't like me."
Danny finally decided to go intangible to escape the thorns. Theo raised an eyebrow when seeing this but didn't say anything as he continued to walk ahead. Danny ran to catch up. Theo kept on a straight path as Danny weaved around trees to stay by Theo's side.
"Why didn't they like you?" Danny asked. He smiled slightly as he said sarcastically, "'Cause you're such a likable person."
"Funny," Theo said with an unfriendly smile. "They didn't like me because I was different. I didn't conform to their ways and multiple rules. I broke too many rules, so there went my home, my family and friends, and my life in Egypt.
"Now look at me. I'm stuck in Greece and being the gods' and goddesses' perfect little demigod. I'm too scared to be ever be banished again. After losing one life, you don't want to lose another." He then pulled out his map that was tied to his toga's belt. "But this is going to change everything," he told Danny passionately. It was the first time Danny had seen the guy actually open up. "I'd be able to go anywhere after this map is finished. No more gods to obey. I'll be finished with his place."
"But you said that you knew about the ghost portals," Danny said. "Why haven't you gone through them to escape this place?"
"Tried, but there are rules to how long you can stay in different places," Theo explained. "Like right now, you're close to breaking that rule. There's a whole thing about upsetting time and destiny crud."
"So how are you going to get around that rule?" Danny asked.
Theo grinned wickedly. "I have some connections with the guy who runs the place," he said. "I make him this map, and he lets me go wherever I want." Danny gave him a confused look. Theo shrugged. "So, you haven't told me your cute, little story yet. How did you get from Amity Park to Ancient Greece?"
Danny was surprised by the question. He didn't think Theo would ever be interested in him. "How do you know about my life in Amity Park?" Danny asked. "You knowing that creeps me out to no end."
Theo gave a sharp laugh. "Let's just say that I've traveled a lot to make this map," he said.
"Okay," Danny said, satisfied with the answer for the moment. He explained to the demigod him being pushed into the portal with the sack of god symbols by Vlad. He told him about his fight with Poseidon and everything up to when he had first met Theo. By the time he was finished with the story, the two were having trouble picking their ways through the forest.
"I'm officially tired of thorny vines," Danny announced after a few more minutes of walking in silence.
"Seeing them means were close, very close," Theo said.
Soon they had to duck and jump over thick, deep green vines that twisted in and out of trees and their bulky trunks. The bright afternoon sky faded away as a canopy of leaves and vines obscured it from view. The air became wet with a white mist, and the humidity steadily became higher as they pushed on.
"Don't hurt or tear anything that is green," Theo said once the ground no longer was grass, but was vines and puddles. "To take a break from her 'hard' work on the fields this year, Demeter comes here to surround herself in what she loves best, plant life."
"Jeez, this place is like an extreme jungle," Danny observed out loud. He had to watch his step anywhere he went. He noticed Theo carefully doing the same ahead of him. Sometimes Danny would catch at the corner of his eye a vine move or twitch. Every time it did this, Theo's ear would turn to catch the slight sound and he would become more serious in his steps.
The attack came with little to no warning. A vine shot out of what seemed like nowhere and wrapped itself around one of Theo's ankles. It zipped upwards, sending Theo off his feet and dangling into the air. Another vine did the same to Danny.
"She's near," Theo told Danny from where they were hanging upside down.
"You think? Does she have to string us up like caught animals?" Danny asked, thoroughly annoyed.
"She's not done with playing with us just yet," Theo said. Danny shot him a look. "Hey, don't look at me like that, kid. You're the one who wanted to go meet her, not me. I'm just here for the free candy."
A vine shot out of the swarm of them above the two. Theo raised a forearm to block it from wrapping around his throat. Instead, it enclosed around the arm in a vice grip. The demigod grunted in pain.
Another vine flung itself down upon Danny from above. Danny simply dodged the attack by swinging away. The vine lodged itself into the ground with a thud. A third vine came for Danny. It latched onto his wrist and squeezed.
"Don't go intangible," Theo told Danny quickly. "Just…just humor her."
"You got to be kidding me," Danny said. "Are these gods and goddesses really that strict and Nazi?"
Theo shot Danny a confused look. "Nazi?" he asked. "Do I even want to know what that means?"
"Right now is not the time for a history lesson," Danny pointed out with a grunt as he dodged another attacking vine. This one zipped past his head, inches away from boring into his skull.
Suddenly the vines stopped attacking. The two teens were by now gasping for breath; sweat dripping down their foreheads and backs from effort. It was hard to dodge vines while being upside down. The jungle ahead of them opened up. A giant blood red rose emerged from the vines.
And sitting on the rose as if it was her throne was Demeter.
She looked to be in her late 30's or early 40's. She had long, flowing light brown hair that cascaded past her shoulders and went the entire way to her knees. Multicolored flowers were scattered throughout her wild hair. She wore a toga made purely out of banana leaves. Her brown eyes took in her captives with a twinkle of evilness in them.
"Theo," she finally said after a silent minute of observation. Her eyes rested upon the demigod just as a vine met its mark. It shot out and wrapped itself around Theo's neck. "What brings you back to me after a whole year of absentness? I was beginning to think you didn't like me."
"We are here to return –," Theo started but stopped when the vine around his neck tightened.
Demeter giggled while leaning back on her rose throne. She gave a small motion of her hand for Theo to come closer. The vines obeyed her power, moving so that Theo's upside down face was dangling just in front of hers. She smiled evilly as she said, "Or maybe you're just scared of me."
Theo said nothing at all. He set his jaw and only stared back at Demeter. Danny was surprised that the demigod didn't look scared or nervous at all. He looked more rebellious than anything else.
After a long, painful minute, Demeter dropped her smile and said, "You bore me, Theo. I can't read you anymore." She waved her hand in dullness. The vines holding Theo moved back to their original spot. The goddess turned her new attention to Danny. When her eyes rested on him Danny felt like a cornered mouse.
"Um…I'm here to give you back your symbol," Danny said, anxiety running deep in his voice. He looked around for his sack and quickly spotted it on the ground. As he fruitlessly stretched downward to grab the sack he rambled on. "I'm sure Hermes told you about me and how I didn't steal it…only returning it."
"Having troubles?" Demeter asked Danny with a snake-like smile.
Danny frowned as he saw this smile. Boy, Theo wasn't kidding when he asked why he would ever want to meet Demeter. The goddess was one who shouldn't even make contact with the world, she was that evil. She would rather play with her new victims than take her symbol back.
"I'd like to be leaving now," Danny said as kindly as he could to the goddess. Her stare was twisting up all his insides. He couldn't take it anymore. "You have your torch back; now let us go…please."
Demeter threw her head back and laughed light heartedly. Danny nervously glanced over to Theo for help. The demigod was busy maneuvering in his vine binds to get something he had put in his sandal before leaving his house. Demeter stopped her laughing and moved her rose throne closer to Danny.
"You are so cute and naïve," she said with a playful giggle. She stroked her slender fingers through the boy's silver hair while saying, "I wonder how long it would take you to escape if I kept you as my prisoner."
"Not long," Theo suddenly spoke up. Demeter screamed in pain and rage as the demigod swung the hidden knife from his sandal over his head and sliced the vine around his neck. "Turn intangible, Danny!" he ordered the other teen as he deftly cut off the rest of his binds while dodging other ones attacking him from above.
Danny slipped through his vines then threw his arm back, making his hand into a fist. "I'm nobody's prisoner, lady!" he yelled as he punched her hard in the face. The goddess didn't see it coming at all and had no time to react. The momentum sent her spiraling off her rose throne and into a tangle of her own vines.
"You want to die?" Theo screamed at Danny in disbelief. He cut the last of the vines holding him and landed on all fours like a cat on the ground. He quickly sheathed the knife and sprung back to his feet. "You don't go punching gods and goddesses!" he told Danny.
"I'm sorry?" Danny said with just as much tenseness in his voice. "Did you want her to make us her prisoners or not?"
Theo shook his head with a grim frown planted on his face. He grabbed Danny's sack, opened it, and threw Demeter's torch at her throne. He gave the sack back to Danny while saying in a hurry, "Fly us out of here. Just go straight up."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Danny said as he saw Demeter get to her feet in a royal huff. Danny grabbed Theo's wrists, turned intangible, and blasted upward. It was like they were in a sea of green as they flew through layer after layer of vines and leaves. It took a while for them to reach the top of the canopy. One second it was green; the next it was a blast of beautiful colors of a sunset.
"We're not out of this yet," Theo told Danny. "Head straight toward that forest. Go as fast as you can and don't ever stop. I'll try to fend her attacks off."
Danny glanced behind him as he switched directions in midair. His eyes went wide as he saw a million vines fly out of the canopy of the jungle. They all had one, evil minded destination…him.
If that didn't motivate the kid to fly harder, he didn't know what could. Danny tightened his grip on Theo's wrists and blasted forward at break neck speed. He rarely ever went this fast to avoid foes, especially while holding something for the fear of dropping them. But at this point, it was better to risk dropping Theo than to get caught by one of those vines.
"This is gonna be fun," Theo muttered before slipping a hand out of Danny's grip. His shoulders burned from being pulled along by Danny, but he managed to think past the pain. He brought up his foot and pulled the dagger out again. He looked ahead for a second, calculated the distance it would take to be out of range, and cursed the goddess under his breath. It was unlikely they would make it.
The first vine had no chance against Theo's knife. He expertly sliced the thing before it could even touch him. The next few met the same demise. But then the next wave came in. Theo kept him and the ghost boy from slowing down, but he was having trouble doing so by the time the third wave came upon them.
At some point, a stray vine managed to wrap itself around one of Theo's ankles and pulled hard. With a short yell of alarm, Theo slipped right out Danny's grip. Danny pulled upward till he was going the opposite way he had been heading while upside down. He gritted his teeth as he put on more speed to go get Theo back.
Theo had sliced vine off his ankle, but he was still plummeting toward the jungle with a couple thousand vines ready to take him down once he got close. Now the chances of getting out of there were practically nothing. The demigod would have been swearing up a storm by now if he wasn't so afraid of his near future. Panic was resting at the door of his brain. He couldn't let it come in.
And suddenly Danny was back. He grabbed Theo's wrists just as some more vines grabbed Theo by the ankles. Now the poor demigod was caught in a violent game of extreme tug-a-war. He looked up into Danny's face and said sarcastically, "Don't let go."
Danny actually grinned. Even in the face of danger, and the guy was joking around. Theo was an odd one alright.
Danny's eyes turned an icy blue as he summed up some power. Seconds later, the vines holding onto Theo's ankles were green popsicles. Danny lifted a foot and smashed it upon the ice, cracking into a million different pieces and freeing Theo at the same time.
Theo was silent the rest of the way, totally devastated by what had just happened. It wasn't till Danny dropped him off onto the solid, dirt ground in the forest that he managed to say something. "Since when did you have that ice power?" he asked with interest.
Danny landed in front of Theo and turned back into his human form with a flash of bright light. "Only recently," he answered.
"Um…this is kind of hard for me to say…but…back there…I—," he stumbled as he scratched the back of his neck in awkwardness.
"Are you thanking me?" Danny asked teasingly.
Theo sighed in defeat. "Sure," he said.
"Then, you're welcome," Danny said with a smile. He untied the sack from his belt and opened it to see what the next symbol was. He pulled out a wooden hunting bow and frowned in thought. The goddess's name was at the tip of his tongue. All he remembered was the moon, though.
Theo grinned as he saw the next object. "Now, that goddess I won't mind returning her symbol to," he said while walking ahead. Danny jogged to catch up. Once again he noticed Theo's cat ears picking up the night time sounds as the sun slowly fell behind the horizon. And once again Danny thought it would be strange to have ears that moved.
A/N: Hope you readers liked the chapter. Writing it was so much fun! I'll update as soon as I can. Please review. Thanks!