Chapter 5: New Faces.
Chapter 5 is here! Now we get into the greek world. Lucifer and Bianca are 16.
Chapter 5: New Faces.
351 days later.
Bianca was panicking, we could tell that. She had been pacing around my room for the last 15 minutes. Nico and I couldn't care less about whatever it was she was panicking about, we were quite content with sipping our cokes that we had snuck from the teachers lounge. Finally, after another 12 minutes, Bianca stopped pacing and looked at us both.
"You calmed down yet, Bia?" I asked her. She stared in disbelief at me. "Do I look like I've calmed down yet?!" She seemed exasperated. "What are you even fussing about anyway, sis?" Nico asked her after taking another sip of his drink. "Have you not been listening to me at all this morning?!" Nico and I shook our heads. She sighed. "I'm the one on the student council who got picked to organize the school dance this year and I have no idea what I'm doing! Any ideas?"
A smirk grew on mine and Nico's faces as we looked at each other, similar thoughts running through our heads. "Well…" We said in unison as we both got up. Bianca looked at us, worry on her face at what we were going to start spouting out. She had every right to be worried. Almost instantly, Nico and I started throwing up nonsense in her face. Silly ideas like "One whole pizza per person!" and "None of the teachers are allowed to attend." Bianca held up her hands. "Stop! Seriously! I need to figure out what I'm going to do." Nico and I grunted and sat back down.
Bianca sat down next and me and put her head in her hands. I put my arm around her shoulders. "Jesus, Bia. I'm sure you'll figure out something. Here." I tossed her a coke. "Sit down and watch TV with Nico and I." She was about to protest but, admitting defeat, she opened the coke and leaned into me. "Get a room!" Nico's disgusted shouts could be heard from three rooms down. I put my hands up in surrender. "We haven't done anything!" Nico muttered something under his breath and went back to watching TV.
14 days later.
I had to be honest, I was genuinely surprised. Seriously, how do you organize something like this in 14 days? To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Understatement of the century, perhaps? Looking over at my girlfriend, I was in utter disbelief. "H- How- How did you do this?" I sputtered at her. She giggled and tapped me on the nose. "That's forever my secret. You know, there would have been more if you two didn't keep convincing me to watch Tv instead of planning this and doing homework." She said, gesturing to me and Nico.
Nico rolled his eyes and I laughed. "You know you would've gone insane if you hadn't taken a break every once in a while." Nico reminded his sister. Bianca poked her tongue at him. "You know, Neek, if we had kept her from working any longer than she already was, we might still have to wear suits and dresses this year." Nico turned to me. "Wait, who's side are you on! I thought we both had the same argument!" I shrugged and put my arms around both of their shoulders. "I'm neutral on this one."
As I looked upon my cousins, I had to admit, I was glad that Bianca had made it so that we could wear whatever we wanted to the dance. Nico looked much better in his favourite hoodie and black khaki's than in a tuxedo. However, I wouldn't mind seeing Bianca in her dress again sometime. Instead she was simply wearing a brown coat with some jeans and sneakers. I chose to go in a blue t-shirt, black jeans and a black trench coat. Not very formal, I know, but that was the whole point of being allowed to wear whatever you want, not being formal.
Nico shook me off and walked over to get some food. I swear that guy only comes for the food. Sensing a hint of deja vu, I held out my hand for Bianca to take. She took it and together we walked out onto the dance floor. The party was in full swing. Some loud, obnoxious music was playing, kids were dancing and running around everywhere and virtually no one wasn't having fun.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something strange. The principal, Dr Thorn, was looking around rather nervously and frantically. The looked over at us, Nico and another group of kids about our age as if the was waiting for one of us to make a move. I looked over at the other kids. I only recognized one of them, a new student named Grover Under... It was something. The other three looked like normal high school students.
One of them was obviously a punk, the kind who liked to get in trouble. She had electric blue streaks through her hair and she wore a leather jacket and ripped jeans. The second one was a blond girl, she was shorter than me and she was wearing an orange coat and was dancing with a boy. The boy turned around. Oh, my, god's. The boy looked a lot like me. Black hair, an athletic build and deep sea-green eyes. I had been focusing on that group of kids for so long that I hadn't noticed Dr Thorne come up to Bianca and I with Nico in tow.
He cleared his throat. "Miss Di Angelo, please come with me." Bianca raised an eyebrow at him and Nico. "What has the done now?" Nico looked offended. I looked back at Dr Thorn and it seemed the was acting even stranger now. He was sniffing the air, glaring at me suspiciously and the kept glancing over at the group of kids who hadn't taken notice of how Dr Thorn had approached us.
"He's done nothing, Miss Di Angelo, I just need to have a talk with both of you." I could tell she seemed hesitant, honestly, I was hesitant to let them go. After a few moments, Bianca nodded and the three of them left to go talk, not before Dr Thorne leaned in my ear and whispered. "I know what you are. You're lucky I'm not here for you." Before quickly ushering Nico and Bianca out of the room.
What the hell is he? I thought to myself before noticing the group of kids were following them out of the room. Well, I might as well join the fun. After managing to escape without conviction from Mrs Gottschalk, I ran after the group of kids. Strange, they're heading outside, and the boy isn't with them. I made it outside but I stayed hidden in the shadows. I had a feeling this had something to do with the god's.
Dr Thorne was standing at a cliff while holding Nico and Bianca by the collars, too forcefully to be legal. Standing in front of them was the boy and the was holding, wait, is that a sword? He must be a warrior, demigod maybe? That wasn't the worst of it. As Bianca and Nico struggled against his grip, he seemed to grow bigger and more furrier. Wait, is the a werewolf or something? Then the grew horns, a mane and finally, a large sharp scorpions tail. A manticore.
His hold of the di Angelos weakened and they escaped. Enraged, the fired two needles from his tail at them. Luckily, the punk girl jumped in front of them with a shield and blocked them all. Bianca and Nico, realizing that this was a matter of the god's, pulled out the weapons I had helped them forge.`
For Bianca, it was some hunting knives and a bow. The knives were named kynigi and venari and her bow was named venenum. For Nico, it was a simple sword named immortuos. How did we forge them in a military school? Simple, Lucifer loves fire. Demon Lucifer that is. The only other things you need are stones, a space to do it and some material to make your weapons. Turns out that I know a lot of Adamantine sources.
Nico, ever the enthusiastic one, gave out a war cry before slashing at Dr Thorns back. As Dr Thorne felt the blade slice his back, he turned around with a menacing glare on his raised his hand to strike Nico down but the was stopped by an arrow to the ribs. Bianca reached for another arrow and Dr Thorne charged at her. The other kids, getting over their shock that these two kids were actually trained warriors, yelled for her to watch out. I chose that time to appear.
I ran out of the shadows and drew my swords, also activating my armor. Right before Dr Thorn attacked Bianca I jumped on his back and Katastrofi into him. He screamed and ran off course, crashing through a nearby tree. He tried to pull me off of him and eventually resorted to using his tail. As the large scaly weapon came down, I used Caecus to block. Dr Thorn was so focused on me that he didn't notice Nico running up to him until the had a blade through the stomach. The howled in pain before another one of Bianca's arrows pierced his shoulder. Shaking me off, he sent a volley of spikes at Nico and I.
I pushed Nico out of the way and winced as his poisonous spikes pierced armor and went into my ribs, arms, leg, foot and finally, my heart. "NO!" Both Bianca and Nico's furious screams could be heard. As Nico and the other kids charged the manticore, Bianca came to give me some assistance. She had tears in her eyes as she studied my wounds. 'No no no no no no no…" The poison ran through my veins, it was extremely painful. Still, I acted tough, for her. "I'm alright. I'm alright. It doesn't hurt, I can fight." I stood up but she pulled on my sleeve. "Please, stay safe." I nodded and she stood up and collected her bow.
I charged at the manticore, the painful poison still running through my body. Nico was furious at him, hacking and slashing until with one well timed swing, he took out Dr Thorn's eye. The manticore screamed its loudest, stumbling away. Near the cliff, a sound could be heard. "Wait." I heard the boy who looked like me say. "Is that a-" He was cut off by a military helicopter appearing at the cliff. Three people could be seen on board, one was piloting a machine gun on the side of the vehicle.
The machine gun shot and we all took for cover. Just the, a horn sounded. Dr Thorn swore as three arrows flew from the trees and embedded themselves in a nearby tree. Looking over, all of us saw a group of girls, ranging 8-16 in age, all came out with bows in their hands. Standing in front was a girl around 16 and one maybe 13. The 16 year old ordered the others to fire and all of them did, except for the 13 year old. The 13 year old looked up at the helicopter before saying loud enough for all of us to hear. "No mortals may be allowed to witness my hunt." She raised her palm and we all gasped at how the helicopter turned into a flock of black birds.
The manticore roared as more arrows pierced his skin, and the hunters kept firing. As he stumbled back towards the cliff, all of us backed away aside from Bianca and the blonde girl. They were still fighting and as we called for them to come away, the manticore looked me in the eye, grabbed them both and jumped off the cliff.
"NO" I screamed and ran towards them both. I grabbed Bianca's hand and the manticore let go, only holding onto the blonde girl. The blonde girl managed to grab onto Bianca's wrist with the manticore hanging from her leg, adding to the weight. I struggled to hold on and I started slipping. Soon I fell from the cliff. I heard Bianca scream and I reached out my other arm. I managed to grab a hold of a branch sticking out of the cliffside.
I heard Nico and the other kids come rushing towards the cliff before looking over the side, seeing me holding onto a branch and two girls, plus a manticore. It took all my demigod strength to not let go right there, I'm not even sure how I didn't.
I heard the blonde girl scream. Dr Thorn was slipping and he was using both his arms to claw the blonde girls legs, hoping she would let go. Desperate, I called out. "Blonde girl! Kick him! KICK HIM IN THE FACE." With the Manticores weight, I knew I couldn't hold on. She listened to me, and she started mashing the manticores face in with her left foot.
I felt a large weight lift off of me as the manticores shriek could be heard. The blonde girl had kicked him right where his eye used to be and he plummeted into the water. I still felt my hand slipping. Thinking on my feet, I swing back and forth. "What are you doing?" Bianca shouted at me. "On the count of 3, let go!" I screamed back at her. Giving her no time to argue, I started counting. "1…" One swing. "2…" another swing. "3!" I let go, and so did she. I fell, and they flew. I hit the water, and they hit the ground.
Somehow, falling into water after falling like that just makes it feel like you've already drowned. I tried praying to a father who didn't even know I existed but nothing happened. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't reach the surface. I was going to die. I was ready to die.
I don't know what kind of magic or entity saved me, but I am eternally grateful. I could suddenly breathe. I was breathing underwater. What in the name of Tartarus? I looked up and the water was clear. I could easily see up to the cliff. Wow that is high. Bianca and Nico were looking over the cliff, worried expressions on their faces. Bianca was crying and Nico looked on the verge of tears as well.
I couldn't let them worry, I had to make them know that I was alright. I swam up forcefully. Too forcefully. Next thing I know I was shooting up the cliff at 20 m/h, on top of a spout of water. I had a massive jetstream of water shooting behind me. I shot up past the cliff and for a split second I saw their worried expressions.
As the air rushed past me, the poison that had finally reached my heart started burning like crazy. Eventually, I reached the clouds and I couldn't take it anymore. It felt like I was having a heart attack, but the pain was triple what it usually would be.
The water disappeared and I couldn't do anything. I plummeted again. Falling. Falling. Falling. I'm gonna die. I could clearly see everyone now. My friends, the other kids and the girls with the hunting gear. They were all watching me as I fell. I turned around, thinking it would hurt less if I landed on my back. Worst decision ever.
I probably would have died if I had landed on my front, the force would have killed me. Instead, the extra armor on my back shielded me from death.
CRUNCH
The pain was worse than the poison shooting through my body. In one moment, so many bones were destroyed. I'm quite proud of what I did next. I moaned. I didn't cry or scream like any normal person would. I moaned. That means I'm one tough cookie.
"Owwwwww…" I said after a few silent, tense moments. They probably thought I was dead until I moaned. I couldn't move. Bianca and Nico rushed to my sides to check if I was okay. They poked my ribs and I winced at the pain of crushed bones and the poison. I felt the heart attack start to kick in again and this time I did scream. I let out all the pain I had felt in the last 20 minutes. Great, I'm still gonna die. I heard Nico start to cry. "No Lucifer! Don't leave us! Please… please." The last word came out as a whimper.
I stopped breathing. Goodbye cruel world. My last sight is gonna be of that 13 year old girl. Great, I can't even see Bianca and Nico one last time. The girl raised her palm and touched my forehead. She started chanting something in a different language. It sounded like Greek. A golden light overcame me just before I blacked out and I took in a huge breath. I could breathe. Thank the gods!
"One's standing right in front of you." I heard the girl say. I guess I said that out loud. "Thank you miss?.." The 16 year old girl behind her got mad at me. "She is not a 'miss', she is a goddess. Artemis, goddess of the hunt to be exact!" My eyes widened. "I… wow… I didn't…" She smiled. "Didn't expect me to look so young?" I nodded. "No one does." She said.
My response was cut off from me being tackled by none other than my girlfriend and her brother. "You're alive!" I laughed. "Did you really think I'd leave you so soon?" It was hard to say considering I did. I had thought I was going to die and I had accepted it.
The boy that looked like me cleared his throat. "Um, we'd like to know how you learned to use your powers like that." Completely forgot about them. "Who are you people." They looked at each other. The punk spoke up. "I'm Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus." The blonde went next. "I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." Grover whatever went next. "I'm Grover Underwood, a satyr." Underwood! That was it. Finally, the boy who looked like me went. "I'm Ryan Williams, son of Poseidon." My eyes widened. "Did- did you just say son of poseidon?" He sighed. "Yes. I'm the son of Poseidon and yes the gods are real, demigo-." I cut him off. "Yeah yeah yeah, already know. It just so happens that I, Lucifer, am also a son of Poseidon."
Silence.
He looked in disbelief. Then, the hugged me. The straight up hugged me. I was tense for a moment, but then I relaxed and hugged back. Thalia interrupted our special moment. "How exactly do you know all this?" I looked at her. "Private tutor." I answered simply. She nodded at Bianca and Nico. "What about those two?" I broke off the hug and walked over to the Di Angelos.
"Everybody, this is Bianca and Nico Di Angelo, children of Hades." Silence again. "Wow... didn't see that one coming." Grover spoke up. "Exactly what I said." Then something clicked in Thalia. "Wait, you three. How old are you?" Bianca and I said "16" while Nico said "14". Thalia and Ryan exchanged worried glances. "What year were you born?" Bianca responded with "1933" and Nico with "1935". Thalia and Ryan sighed of relief just before I spoke up. "1991." Then they exchanged worried glances again before going away to speak. The girls with Artemis then came over.
"Demigods, these are my hunters of Artemis. We are sworn to never fall in love and forever remain maidens in exchange for immortality." Artemis introduced them. "This is my lieutenant, Zoe Nightshade." She gestured to the 16 year old. She then turned to Bianca. "May we please have a word in private?" Bianca looked at us. I nodded and Bianca, Zoe and Artemis all walked off.
Thalia and Ryan came over. "Lucifer, you are older than Ryan by one year. There is a prophecy that says that the next child of the big three to turn 16 will be the saviour of the universe. Me, Bianca and Nico don't count because we're chronologically over 16. You are the one the prophecy mentions." I was in shock. I had just met my brother, found the god's finally and now I was destined to save the universe. What. The. Hell.
My thoughts were cut off by Nico. "If you two are children of Zeus and Poseidon, does that mean we're cousins." Ryan thought about it for a moment. "I guess it does, cousin." Nico fist bumped him and I laughed.
"So, do we get to meet our parents?" Nico asked. Ryan and Thalia nodded. "But first we go to camp." Nico went berserk. The ran over to Bianca, who was now returning with Artemis and Zoe. "BIANCA! WE GET TO MEET DAD AND ALL THE GOD'S!" Bianca was shocked. "What did they want?" She looked guilty for a moment. "They wanted me to join the hunters."
If I had been drinking, I would have spit it out. "WHAT?!" Bianca looked worried. "And I actually thought about it." That was it. "What! No, no no no no. Bianca, you can't do this. What about Nico and I?" She thought about it. "I know but… this is my chance to do my own thing. I won't have to look after Nico anymore." I couldn't believe it. Bianca was just going to ditch us. Just like that. I was so angry and depressed at the same time. I loved her with all my heart, I almost died just now to save her. "Fine then. Do your own thing. Nico and I will do ours." I stormed off.
I walked through the forest next to the cliff until I reached a private, calm spot. I sat down at the ledge, my feet hanging over the edge, and I thought. Am I the selfish one for stopping her from doing what she wanted, from having the life she wanted? Or is she the selfish one for abandoning us? I was so confused. Why?
Ryan came over and sat next to me. "Hey." The said. "Hi." I simply grumbled back. We both just looked out at the cold ocean. "Why are you so mopey? I saw you storm off." For a moment, I didn't speak. We both just sat there until I finally did. "My girlfriend wants to abandon me and her little brother to go run off with some girls." Ryan had no idea what to say, I could tell. "Have you thought about it" He spoke after a while. "That's all I have been doing." I repeated my thoughts to him. "Am I the selfish one for stopping her from doing what she wanted, from having the life she wanted? Or is she the selfish one for abandoning us?" He thought about it for a moment. "Both. She shouldn't leave you two like that in a time like this but you shouldn't stop her from achieving her dreams." True words of wisdom.
"I never got to thank you for saving Annabeth. We're dating." I smiled. "You've got good taste, brother. I'm sure you would've done the same thing if it was Bianca that the manticore was holding. I'm guessing that I didn't get it from my mother." He chuckled. "I think you should just wait for Bianca to make up her mind, see which way the wind blows." I nodded and the patted me on the shoulder before getting up. Holding out his hand with just a "Come on." we both got up and walked back to our friends.
Bianca ran up to me. Before she could say anything, I put my hand on her chest. "Before you say anything, just know that I'll be happy with whatever decision you make."
Bianca smiled.
"I'm staying with you two."
Longest chapter yet! Ever! The longest chapter I've ever written! That's why it took so long. Next chap we get to camp half-blood and we meet the parents! The godparents. Bad joke, I know. Also I tweaked the prophecy so that Lucifer is saviour of the universe. Bianca and Nico's weapon names are all in either Greek or Latin.
Word count: 4088. Success!