Okay, to anyone who is confused: Ocean is supposed to be a Mary-Sue. Really, if you want to know more about her, read 'The Ten Commandments of a Mary-Sue!' Heh, coming to think of it, I should probably update that…. Oh well. So far, no one has guessed Adrian's mother yet. Yes, she does have to do with the title and tell me what you think!
Chris and I stalk through the woods, following a path left by something big. Real descriptive, I know. I groan, stop, wipe the sweat off my brow, and keep walking, whereas Chris seemingly has no problem whatsoever that we're trekking through the woods at 100 degrees, tracking some monster we don't even know. Plus I'm still getting these real bad vibes from the direction we're walking in.
"Hey, Chris I really think we should head back."
"Come on, man, just a little further. See, it's slowing down," he says, pointing to two paw prints. How on earth does that show it's slowing down? There are two prints next to each other, a lot of shuffled up dirt, and nothing else.
"Chris, if I'm not mistaken, whatever it was stopped here." I realize what I've just said. Oh, I am so stupid. My hand goes to my switchblade and I pull it off my pants, pressing one of the buttons on its side to expand it into a sword. I look down at it, wondering why it feels so light. I am looking at a screwdriver. I gulp and look at Chris, who is smirking at the knife in my hand. I push the correct button and wait for it to expand into a sword, when it is, very rudely, knocked from my hands by a silver arrow.
Okay, now I am really pissed off because there are Hunters closing in on us. Very hot female hunters who want to kill us. I knew we shouldn't have come in here. The hunters are glaring at us menacingly, and I slowly turn my head to look at Chris. The idiot has this goofy grin on his face and is staring, quite love struck, at a hunter with spiky hair and a silver… holy gods. He has a crush on Thalia Grace. I elbow him quickly in the ribs and he yelps, but he isn't staring at Thalia anymore.
"What was that for?" he hisses at me angrily.
"Dude, stop trying to prove you're not gay, we all know you aren't."
"I'm not trying to prove anything. Just don't wanna end up like you."
"Like me?"
"We'll, let's put it this way; I don't want to die a virgin." I really resist the urge to role my eyes. Ever since we both hit fifteen, Chris wants to get laid. "Wait. You haven't-" now I role my eyes. Unfortunately forgetting the hunters are there, I respond.
"Dude, I'm five one, what are my chances."
"Maybe the 'five' is referring to your height and the 'one' to your-" he never gets to finish that sentence because I elbow him so sharply he collapses on the ground, gasping for breath. I suddenly remember where we are when there is a loud throat-clearing behind me. I turn around, looking at the hunters, quite embarrassed.
"Err…." Is all I manage to say as I see the hunters staring at us in disgust.
A younger one roles her eyes and mutters "Boys" quietly, but just enough so that we can hear it.
"Come on, give us a break," I say, raising my hands defensively. "We're guys."
"Still, the boys I know aren't so…" the girl says, but quickly covers her mouth as she realizes what she has just said. "I mean, not that I know many, but the ones we have run into over the years aren't so…"
"Handsome?" Chris grins. Oh gods, this is not good.
"Excuse my friend," I say, elbowing Chris yet again in the ribs. "Come on though, we're fifteen."
"Percy Jackson wasn't like you when he was fifteen."
"And you knew him then?"
"No, but Thalia did."
"So? Being perverted when you're fifteen and a guy is natural," Chris cuts in, and for the first time today, he has said the right thing. Unfortunately, at this, the huntress walks up to him and punches him in the face.
"Aw, c-come on," Chris says, cupping his bleeding nose in his hand, "was that really necessary?"
The girl is about to punch him again when my instincts kick in. I mean, I usually prefer to stay out of other people's fights, but Chris really isn't the best fighter here. He's cool with a spear, anything else and you've automatically won. I sort of step-slide in between and catch her fist in a swift upwards motion. I grab it with my hand, twisting her whole arm and pull in so that she is forced onto her knees. Crack. I can see her dark green eyes wide with shock and fear, but then I realize my mistake.
I gulp as I see twelve arrows pointing at me. The air is charged with electricity, and I can tell that Thalia must be extremely pissed off. I let go of the huntress quickly, who falls to the ground with a thud and clutches her arm, whimpering slightly. I really didn't mean to break it, honestly! I start to panic as I step slowly back towards where Chris is standing, awestricken.
"Dude," I hiss. "A little help, maybe?" He reaches for his spear, but then remembers that the hunters have shot away our weapons. Oh great, this is really bad. I hear a whizzing sound and before I know what's happened, I feel a searing pain in my ear. My hand wanders up, shaking, and grabs the arrow stuck in my ear, and pulls. I comes out, the tip covered in shiny red blood. Oh gods. I have to puke. My hand goes up to my ear and comes back covered in warm sticky blood. Oh gross. But I don't have time to fix anything.
Now the good thing about being small is that I am quite fast and agile. I dodge arrows where I can, but still, I can feel them cutting past me. One lodges in my calf and I scream, stumbling, and scream again as one hits my butt. I duck and my hand grasps my knife, buried in the dirt. But I don't have time to fight now. I grab Chris by his shirt and try to drag him out of the whole mess he brought us into. My best hope right now is getting to camp.
As we run/limp towards the edge of the forest, I can tell we're being followed. Arrows are still whizzing past us, dangerously close. At some point, someone is even shooting with flaming arrows, setting the grass around us on fire. Chris stumbles and falls on his hands, shouting in pain, but I grab him at his sleeve and we start running again.
Along the way, I manage to pull three arrows out of my body; how I'm alive, I don't know. I get the one out of my butt, my calf, and another one out of my shoulder. I somehow manage to run against a tree and I fall down, quite dizzy and seeing stars, but Chris pulls me up and drags me along. I can't help but notice his hands- a sight that makes me want to puke. The red flesh is showing through the burnt black skin, so deep I can see some of the tendons.
Finally, after what feels like hours, we stumble and fall out of the woods. But we don't stop. We keep going until we are lying on the ground in front of a cabin, gasping for breath. I hear shouts, running footsteps, and hands all over me. Someone lifts me up shakily and starts carrying me somewhere. I hear Chris's screams of pain but then my mind shuts down, sending me to the world of dreams.
I am standing in the throne room on Olympus. I am somewhere amongst the pillars, and I can see Zeus's thrown a few yards away. I turn and see Zeus himself standing about a yard away, talking to two ladies who could've been twins.
"Astrapê! How many times have I had to tell you? The poor man has been electrocuted twenty one times and still he lives. You can't just let your anger out on the poor mortal."
"Ah, come off it," the woman I assume to be Astrapê says. "He's your son, it doesn't harm him."
"He's eyebrow-less, dammit!"
"Yeah, and facial hair-less and he has that bald spot a few inches off center."
Zeus is positively glowing with rage. "That's enough, Astrapê! And Brontê, I don't know what you're smirking at," he shoots angrily at the other woman, who has been cringing with laughter but who now falls silent. "You both are responsible for the disfiguration of my son; therefore, you both must pay!" He turns around and with a swish, he is gone.
Astrapê turns to Brontê and looks to the floor guiltily. Brontê groans and looks like she is about to wring Astrapê's neck.
"Why in the name of ourselves did you have to electrocute him again?"
"He annoyed me!"
"Ugh! Can't you attend those anger-management classes Hermes is offering? I hear they are very helpful."
"Hey, I'm not the one with anger management issues here, Brontê!"
"What?"
"Yeah, you heard me. You're the one with issues here, not me!"
Astrapê turns around and stalks out of the room, her head held high. Brontê is fuming, and when she turns to me, I don't like the look of things.
"See, hero?" she spits at me. "Pshh, as if you would ever be a hero. Just so you know one thing: signs are misleading. I am not where you think I am. If you want to apologize, you'd better start looking soon."
"Ow… my butt hurts…." I mutter, waking up from the weirdest of weird dreams. I hear a soft chuckle beside me and am stunned to find Cody sitting there. "Err… that wasn't for your ears, huntress," I snap at her, sounding harsher than I mean, and am a lot more embarrassed than I think I should be. Cody roles her eyes, sighs and gets up. "Wait. Don't leave, Cody, please," I say. She turns around again, smiling, and sits down next to me.
"So, what happened?"
"Well… me and Chris-"
"Chris and I"
"Me and Chris were tracking this weird monster in the woods, but he actually wanted to find the hunters. When I saw where the tracks stopped, I figured the hunters had left the track for another monster to follow, but instead, they got us. So, being the fifteen year old gentlemen we are, we said some things, got them angry, and I ended up breaking one of their arms. Then they really wanted to kill us. The shot at us and we ran."
"Lovely… just like I remember you, Adrian."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"You always pick fights that aren't meant for you. Maybe you should stop picking those fights and fight your own, and actually deal with things instead of keeping them on the inside, so that people on the outside don't know what's going on and you feel you need to fight their fights even though you're fighting with yourself and you really need to stick to your fights and let people see what you're like on the inside even though they only know your outside."
"I have no clue what you just said."
"Neither do I. But I meant it." Cody smiles. Oh gods, am I ever going to get over this crush? I hope not, a small voice says in the back of my head.
"So you're not mad at me for breaking that girl's arm?"
"Oh I'm mad at you all right. It's just that... there has been a quest given to a huntress. Me, to be specific. And… well… I want you to come."
"Err… depends. What's the prophesy?"
"A huntress bound to her eternal vow/ Will see the lightning come forth and bow/ Will find four familiars on the ridge of debt/ Will try to lose a gambling bet/ But with three she must go/ And return she must never so."
I nod slowly. I'm really not liking the last line. But still. "I'm in."
Yup, what do you think? I know I haven't updated my other stories- that's because I really need some inspiration. What do you think? Who is Adrian's mother? Stay tuned and find out more next time I update :) Review, yes?