We had finally made it to our destination. I saw Chandler was still looking out the window as Adam pulled up. It was a ghost town or maybe a set for a Western movie…and the crew wasn't there yet. I don't know, just seeing this place had me on edge.
The dry dust emanated into the air as Adam parked the corvette a couple of feet away from the main building of the set: a saloon. It was a couple of seconds before we slowly got out of the car. Chandler was out of the car first, her still blue hair blowing in the dry and humid air.
She crossed her arms and was barely leaning against the car, studying her surroundings and what she had to deal with. My eyes flickered over to Adam and he could sense my weary fright. His hand found mine from the driver's seat and gave it a long squeeze; it gave me a new sense of hope and comfort.
Whenever he did that, the bad emotions seemed to flood away, as if he were making them go with just one touch. These squeezes were always helpful before I performed in recitals or performances in general; they always calmed the fluttering butterflies in my stomach at that time. He spoke with his eyes.
"Are you ready to do this thing?"
"I don't know," I responded with a shake of my head. "Even though I kind of want this thing to be over with, I don't want to deal with it either." He nodded understandingly.
"I get what you mean. But haven't you seen the whole thing unfold in the visions and dreams you've had?"
"Yes, but knowing what's going to happen isn't helpful, Adam. It just makes the whole ordeal even scarier." His eyes broke from our connection because he looked to the steering wheel, as if he was just finally recognizing what I said. He spoke with his mouth this time.
"We better get this show on the road then," Bitterness dominated his words. "Lacey has a family to get back to." I nodded.
"Right," I said. "Let's cream this guy."
It was as if we were in a movie ourselves. The three of us pushed through the cracked, swing doors of the saloon and looked around. Music from an old piano was drearily filling the room and our ears, along with the clanking of glasses and a slight hum of casually bored chatter. All of our eyes found the owners of the voices.
They were three males sitting at the bar of the saloon, one I recognized as Helios himself. The other two were younger and looked human. But I had a feeling that they were only half human, like us. The eldest boy looked Adam's age but had a majestic composure. He sat up straight and his clothes were clean, but his face had a grim look on it, as if he were here for the drinks only, not for the comfort of the people. But the coolest feature of him was his skin.
His skin was so pale that it glowed! I mean, it wasn't a freaky glow or anything, but regal or poetic with beauty. It reminded me of the glow of moonlight on a dark, summer night. His right hand was occupied with a long, silver staff that glowed a bit too. On the top of it was a crescent moon itself, it was the made out of the same metal of the staff. I knew right away that his godly parent had to do with the moon.
The youngest boy looked about nine or ten. He had a serious look on his face, like those guards at Buckingham Palace. His eyes were kept on one thing, as if he were having a staring contest with a wall. A string ran across his chest which I noticed turned out to be a bow that was slung over his back.
His hair was a dull brown and he had bangs that slightly rested to the right side on his forehead. The color of his eyes, from what I could see, was brown too. He reminded me a lot of myself, actually, with the brown hair and eyes façade.
"Finally!" A male voice called and my eyes darted to him with surprise. "Our special guest has finally decided to make her appearance, and with her paparazzi too!" Helios smirked as he finished his mug of beer, his elbow casually resting on the edge of the bar. I rolled my eyes.
"Sorry for the wait," I shot back, just as much venom in my voice. "It was all of your obstacles that took up my time, really." I saw the eldest boy next to him tense up when he finally noticed me, his grasp on the staff even tighter, making his knuckles even whiter. Helios seemed to notice his movement because his eyes fell on him.
"Well, I'm sorry for that, Althea. You see, I am just so lucky to have many people to help me with this problem: you." He looked over at me. I raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything. Adam, who was standing on my right, knew that I would start cursing or just go into full battle mode if Helios insulted me one more time.
"Look," He started calmly. "We're here for the girl you accidentally stole. Her name is Lacey and she needs to come with us." Helios yawned, bored with Adam already.
"You know, you're pretty peaceful for a kid of Zeus." There was a boom of thunder in the distance and Helios rolled his eyes but continued on. "I'm quite surprised, really. I thought you would want a fight to the death or something." He was taunting him. He stood up from the chair at the bar. The youngest boy stood up and joined Helios by his side. Helios patted his head, as if rewarding him for being so protective over him. I really wanted to punch Helios in the face; no child should be put to work under this guy. I felt my hands ball at my sides and my eyes narrow at him.
"We just want Lacey and we'll get out of your hair." Helios's hand fell from the kid's hair to his shoulder.
"It's not like you're in my hair now, daughter of Apollo, you always were." I raised an eyebrow, truly dumbfounded.
"What? That makes no sense."
"You didn't let me elaborate," He demanded and he snapped his fingers and we ended up with our backs tied to chairs. "But now that you're all comfy cozy, you will." He grabbed a chair from a vacant table and straddled it so he was facing towards us. The boys diligently stood behind him as he told his tale.
"I think you all are aware of the fact that I was the god of the sun before Althea's father, Apollo, took my position. Correct?" Chandler nodded.
"That's what the book said," She added, not really helping the situation.
"Well, since Apollo was almost forced into being the Oracle of Delphi, he spouts prophecies from time to time." His face grew severe. "This prophecy came to me in a dream, you see. I don't know how or why but what I do know is that it involves a child of Apollo defeating me." He slowly looked up at me. "So, I set out a monster to hunt all of the children of Apollo it could sniff out. However, my monster did find you but took the wrong person accidentally. Your roommate, Lacey, I believe?" I sighed and looked away from his gaze; he only made the guilt grow more.
"How did you know which child it was, though?" Chandler asked. I knew she was asking through pure curiosity, she liked to know things. Helios sighed just as deeply as me, rubbing his chin in thought.
"That's where my search did not pay off." He looked over to Chandler. "I was still stuck in the rut of this prophecy, daughter of Poseidon." Chandler nodded but didn't open her mouth to ask another question.
"Well, where is Lacey?" I pursued. "We just came to collect her. If we can have her back, there will be no vanquishing of anyone or anything." Helios looked back over to me.
"This is where I wish I could promise the same, Althea. But, who knows? You may come back for me because of a sudden pang of revenge about this situation." He paused, making a final decision. "And I can't take that chance." I closed my eyes, trying to block out his last words and trying to stop the hope that drained from my heart. Helios cleared his throat as he got up from the chair and he put it back in its original place. I felt Adam's eyes on me and I looked back at him.
"I am so sorry," I pleaded to him, feeling that pain of tears as they formed around the bottom of my eyes, blurring my vision. "This is my entire fault." Adam shook his head.
"It's not, Althy. We just have to get through this rough patch…together." There was a pause and even though he didn't physically smile, his eyes did. "I promised that everything would be okay, didn't I?" I nodded and felt my lips fall into a small smile.
"You did," I agreed. That's when I saw his lightning bolt key chain flash in the dim lightning as he spun it around his finger. He swiftly cut the ropes and cut mine before either of the two boys started to attack us. The eldest of the two boys picked Adam to fight with while I helped Chandler out of the rope that was still around her back.
My eyes quickly flickered from her to the youngest boy who was struggling to load an arrow into the bow; he just wasn't in synch like I am with mine. My bow and I, strange as it seems, almost worked with me and fit perfectly in my grasp, like it already knew what I was going to aim at or at what speed I wanted the arrow to soar through the air. However, with him, it was like the weapon was fighting him.
His previously serious mask melted from his face, a look of pure fear and shock replacing it. Chandler jumped up from the chair once she was free and my bow was already on my back and thankfully, an arrow already notched in place. I aimed my bow at the boy but I couldn't shoot him. He was so innocent, so clueless on how tainted this situation was, that I couldn't find the strength for my fingertip to let go of the bow.
I slowly lowered my bow, finding that my eyes were still on him. He gave up and threw his bow down onto the ground. He put up his fists, getting ready to hand-fight me. I only smirked and rested a hand on my hip, my bow in my free hand. In a fighter's stance, he danced in a circle around me, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Make your move!" He cried. I arched an eyebrow.
"You seriously do not want me to," I saw his eyebrows rise as he slowed his pace down.
"What?" He shook his head. "No, no, I can take you!" His fists slightly lowered as he glanced at the bow. "And I don't need that stupid bow to do it, either." I sighed and rested my bow on the table.
"Fine, give me your best shot." I said with impatience. His eyes narrowed at me as he charged. I easily put him in a head lock, rubbing his head with my fist. His arms flew in panic as he tried to escape my hold.
"Hey! Let me go! This wasn't supposed to happen!" I migrated to a chair and he continued to kick and scream. I placed him in the chair and grabbed some rope from earlier, tying his wrists together and then his waist to the chair. Even though it was simple, it was a battle with him. I think he managed to pull some of my hair out.
Once he was securely tied to the chair, I picked up my bow from the table. I was surprised no one had stolen it but everyone was battling with another. The only solider who wasn't present in this feud was the main leader himself, Helios.
The eldest boy and Adam had made a mess of the rest of the room. Chairs and tables were flipped over and some chairs were even smoking! Most likely because of Adam's sword. Chandler was behind the bar, managing, by herself, to spray the eldest boy with some beer whenever she got the chance. It slowed the boy down sometimes, but it never completely stopped him.
That's when another wave of guilt washed over me. I felt bad that Chandler didn't have a weapon, (besides her being able to spray beer and other drinks like that). But something stopped that train of thought because that's when I felt something appear in my pocket. It was heavy, not to mention cold against my jean clad leg. My fingers fumbled with it as I pulled it out of my pocket. It was still shiny with water, as if it had just came from the ocean or something. It was a belt buckle, I finally decoded, which was shaped like a trident. It was blue and made out of a substance that I had never felt before. It didn't take me very long to decide that Poseidon had sent me this. I didn't know what it would do, or why he sent me this, but I tossed it to Chandler anyway.
"Chandler!" I yelled and her head turned towards me. "Catch!" I tossed it into the air and she did catch it. Once it landed in her grasp, it turned into a large trident itself. Her eyes widened in awe as she studied it, turning it in her hand.
"Wow," I heard her lips mumble. But the sound of a sword clanging as it fell to the ground derived my attention away from the new weapon and towards Adam. The eldest boy had his staff pointed at Adam's chest, making Adam back towards the wall, his arms raised in the air, his eyes wide and on the staff. At the top of the crescent moon, a white ball of glowing substance was forming. Even though it was pretty, it looked kind of deadly too.
Chandler's head snapped towards the boy as she threw the trident at him. His eyes widened as he got pinned to the wall, the trident tacking him to the wall by the neck. We all watched his legs squirm in the air, his hands eagerly reaching for the trident, an attempt of trying to release himself from the grasp of the trident. I knew he wasn't going to die because I saw that he could clearly breathe. The worst thing that could happen was if he went unconscious. I walked over to Chandler with a wide smile on my face, a grin on hers.
"That was totally wicked!" I cheered as I gave her a high five. She returned one back to me.
"It was, wasn't it?" She sighed happily and rested her hands on her hips. I followed her gaze which was at the eldest boy. His squirming had slowed down a bit, his eyelids drooping from sudden drowsiness. Adam made a face at the boy.
"What are we going to do with them?" His eyes fell on me. "I mean, we can't take them along, can we?" I bit my lip. I had already made my decision but Adam wouldn't be too happy about it.
"We're going to take them with us."
"But that's absolute suicide!" He disagreed. "The youngest boy may not be tough or anything, but that guy has moves!" I thought I heard a quiet "hey!" coming from where the youngest boy was tied up, but I didn't think too much about it. I pursed my lips, looking back at the boy, his body limp now.
"Look, he's already out cold. And, if you temporarily forgot, we can use his powers for good. He was probably persuaded to join Helios's side. I'm sure he didn't just willingly joined this army." I said. "I mean, that's what it looks like." Adam ignored me with a shake of his head, crossing his hands. He mumbled, "Suicide, Althy. Absolute suicide," as he collected his sword, the sword transforming back to the key chain. I watched Chandler as she started to take the trident out of the wall. My eyes widened and I rushed over to her.
"Wait!" I called. I took hold of the boy and then she released him of the trident, the wall crumbling away. I sat the boy in another chair and used the last part of the rope to tie him to it. His head rested on the back of the chair, his breathing shallow. I did feel really bad for Chandler doing this to him, but it was the only way we could stop Helios. I rested my hand on his forehead and that same, warm glow spread over his head, healing him. I smiled as his chest rose more evenly after. Chandler joined me by my side, her eyes on him too.
Her new weapon was already attached to her belt; she was proudly showing it off, even if there was nobody different in the room. It took me a couple of seconds to notice that my hand was almost burning. I clenched my teeth as light puffs of smoke rose into the air. Chandler's eyebrows scrunched together as she studied my hand just as closely.
"Althy, what's up with your hand?"
"I don't know," I said through clenched teeth. "But what I do know is that it really hurts!" Chandler took my hand and I thought it would hurt her, but it didn't.
"Did you touch something?" She saw my eyes flicker over to the boy in the chair and she nodded. "Ah, that makes a lot of sense."
"What? What does?" She sighed, letting me take my hand back.
"His mother is Selene, Titan goddess of the moon. You may have healed him but with doing so, it hurt you, probably because your elements of nature are opposite."
"Oh," I nodded. "That does make sense." Chandler smirked. Adam walked over to me.
"So, are we going to leave now?" I looked up to him.
"Not right away," I said, my face growing foreboding. "We still have yet to retrieve Lacey."