Chapter Six:
"Hey, that's my taxi!" snapped an angry man.
He didn't appear to be all mortal; all the demigods could tell he was more than met the eye. They frowned at each other. Mara stepped back, holding the skirts of her pink dress, which almost unfortunately, she still had.
He stared at her. Mara looked shaken and furious. "Don't, I repeat, don't stare at me."
"You're a hot one," he said.
Mara looked highly insulted. She pulled out a shield and a sword.
"Mara, don't pick a fight," said Erik cautiously.
"That doesn't sound like a son of mine!" exclaimed the man, his hair flaming red.
Arielle gasped. "Lord Ares!"
"Well, it takes the daughter of Athena to finally figure it out," he growled.
"What do you want?" asked Mara, not stowing away her weapons yet.
"Well, pretty girl, first, a sword lesson."
"Don't, Ares!" complained a feminine voice. "Don't hurt her."
"I won't!" Ares snapped. He pulled out a sword. He spat at Mara, "You're lucky I don't have my own sword."
"The one that I am looking for," Mara growled.
The swords clashed against each other. Mara stepped back and then forward quickly, throwing her sword up against his and pushing him away.
"Don't do that!" snapped Erik. "He's much stronger than you are! Jab! Poke! Move!"
Mara hit a stone wall she never realized was there. Her back cracked, and she winced in pain. Not only that, Ares temporary sword showed up pointed at her throat.
"Now, now," said Ares. "That can't be all we want to see."
He slid his sword down, slicing the middle of her dress open. She clutched it together, flushing with embarrassment and anger. "Go away, Lord Ares," she growled, looking at her sword, which was on the ground. She held her dress together. He touched the sword tip to her fingers and pressed just barely, but it started to crack, and her skin started to well red.
"Ares!" exclaimed a furious voice. A beautiful woman walked up to Mara, pushing Ares sword away. She grabbed the tip of the dress and swirled her hand around in a focused way. Mara's dress repaired itself, better than new. "Don't go picking on my daughter, Ares, or we won't be going out today!"
"Sorry," grumbled Ares. "I was curious if she looked like you."
Aphrodite slapped him, but he didn't even wince. Erik rushed to Mara's side, holding her elbow and her shoulder, and pulled her away from the wall and the two gods. "Are you alright?" he whispered to her.
"Yeah, just dazed," whispered Mara back.
The four demigods stood together, nervous.
"Now, now," said Ares. "Don't go get all defensive. I just came to talk to Erik and Justin. The lady would like to talk to each of you. Just be patient. Get in the car."
"Why did you complain over the taxi if you already had a car?" snapped Erik, but climbed in to the large black limo nonetheless. The four half bloods sat very close together, while the two gods sat in front.
"Now," Ares began. "Erik."
"Yes," said Erik. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said, "Lord Ares," instead of father.
Ares didn't comment. "So, the Ares boy who isn't Ares?"
"Yes, Lord Ares."
"Erik, look, you shouldn't be so soft! You stupid boy! Don't you realize who you are?" demanded Lord Ares, sounding furious, but not taking his eyes off the road.
"Yes, I know who I am."
"You're my son. You need to act like it!"
Erik didn't display any emotion. "Who says I need to, Lord Ares?"
"Erik. There has to be some fighter in you. I daresay that Mara has more fighting in her than you!"
Now he was insulted, and shaken by what his father had said. It didn't show on his face, but Mara could feel his anger and underneath that, the want and desire to please this irritating man.
"Lord Ares, please don't bring me up in this," Mara said politely.
Ares didn't reply. "Remember who you are, Erik. You obviously need to. Anyway, Justin. I have a gift for you."
"Why are you giving me a gift and not my father?" asked Justin, sounding left out.
"Because you don't see Apollo giving you a ride!" snapped Ares, throwing something back at him.
Justin caught it easily. "A bow." He sounded astounded and excited. "Thank you so much, Lord Ares!"
Aphrodite told Arielle first, "Take care of Stephen. He misses you very much. Justin, when you get home to Camp Half Blood, ask Alice out. Don't be scared; I already know the answer. Take good care of my daughter. She deserves the best. Erik...ha, I think we know your girlfriend wants to date you. You'll be able to date when you get to camp. Don't now. It's too dangerous. Mara."
"Mother?" asked Mara.
"Stay beautiful, on the inside and out. You'll know what I mean. Any questions before we let you out?"
"Why have I had the dress so long?"
"You've had it for eight days. It'll be gone by the...hmm. Fifteen days, I think. Or sixteen. The reason you've had it so long is because of the strength of your power. You're different, Mara. You are beautiful on the inside, outside, and your standards and motives. That, and I took forever making that dress for you!"
"You made it?" exclaimed Mara, sounding delighted. "I love it! It's beautiful."
"Well...when you get back to camp...there will be a gift waiting for you. Hermes will be there. Anyway, we'll see you in California!" Aphrodite said goodbye, and they were practically shoved out the doors.
"Bye, mother," said Mara, as the limo zipped away.
"Well..." Arielle smiled. "Stephen misses me!" She giggled happily.
"I get to date Alice!" shouted Justin happily, dancing in a circle.
Rolling her eyes, Mara started to walk away. Erik was silent. He didn't look very happy. She felt her smile start to drop. "Hey, Erik," She said to him, setting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"
"Sure," Erik said, his voice hard and cold. "My father just told me he is embarrassed to call me his son. I'm great."
"Erik, look, I don't mean it..." said Mara.
Erik gave her a look through his hard green eyes. "Look, Mara, your mother loves you. Things are different when your father hates you."
"My mother doesn't love me! She left me after Jared died!" Mara said, her voice raising to a shout. "I had nobody, Erik. At least you had your mother!"
"He took advantage of her!" snapped Erik. "You act like everything all revolves around you!"
Tears started to well up in Mara's eyes. "I do not! Why do you have to be like this?"
Arielle intervened. "Wait. Come, Mara. Let's go get something to eat."
"I'm not hungry," she mumbled.
"What would you guys like?" asked Arielle.
Erik didn't respond. Justin said, "Just get us two cheeseburgers, with fries, and two medium cokes."
Arielle nodded, walking with Mara away. "Look, Mara, I know that you and Erik have gone through rough things in your lives. Erik could have been nicer. He's just upset right now. Look at it this way: You're getting something special for your mum, your risking your life for it, and she comes and yells at you. You wouldn't necessarily be happy."
Mara didn't respond. Tears were in her eyes. She blinked her eyes clear to try to read the sign of the little airport restaurant. MCNDOALSD. "Is it McDonalds?" she asked Arielle, who shrugged.
"Must be. I don't like McDonalds. Lets go over to that little pizza place over there. So much for cheeseburgers." There was no line, so Arielle marched right up to the lady at the desk. "One large pizza please with pepperoni, mozerella, black olives, mushrooms, and Italian sausage."
"That will be 23.96 please," said the lady, ringing it up. "Your pizza will be done in about twenty minutes."
"Thanks," Arielle looked through money and bought some drinks as well.
They sat quietly at a table for some time until a tall, strange looking woman paused by their table.
"Hey, hun," she said, staring Mara in the eye. "Would you like to buy a map of the area?"
Arielle and Mara exchanged looks. "Uh, no thanks," Mara said, unsure.
"Now ain't that too bad?" she cooed. "My honey is taking care of your demigod friends in that direction."
Mara stood up and rushed over to Erik and Justin, who had their swords out and were pointing them at a huge creature defensively.
"It's a Chimera!" hissed Erik. "Get away! It's dangerous!"
The Chimera was like an overgrown lion...with three heads sprouted from its shoulders, the hind parts of a goat, and a long tail...with a snake head at the end. The fangs of the snake dripped with poison and the forked black tongue flickered out.
Mara banged her shield against the creature's middle. Her best bet. It was shoved roughly in to the wall, but the snake, acting on its own, flicked out and narrowly missed her head. Mara took a chance, throwing her sword in to its shoulder.
The creature cried out a horrible screech of pain. Erik and Justin were distracting the snake tail. The three heads of the lion part charged for Mara, who fell backwards against the floor. Winded and trying to catch her breath, she blocked the attempt to bite at her with the shield, but the claws raked at her stomach and legs.
"Mara, move! The snake is-"
Pain. Severe, throbbing pain. She knew it only meant one thing. The snake had bitten her. She was going to die. Weakly, she pulled herself from underneath the creature and pressed herself against the opposite wall to try to stay standing.
"Let me through!" shouted Justin, pushing the Chimera out of his way, dodging the snake fangs, and reaching Mara's side. He pulled out a small thermos and opened it. "Drink this. Slowly."
She let the warm, soothing liquid enter her. It tasted like pizza, and hot chocolate. A disgusting mix, for sure, but then, it tasted beautiful. She wondered what happened to the poison, for her limbs started to feel warm and tingly rather than shaking with pain.
"What did you give her?" asked Erik. The Chimera disintegrated. Arielle stepped over the spot where it had been, her eyes dark.
"Ambrosia," whispered Justin.
"Ambrosia?" exclaimed Arielle. "How did you get that?"
Justin looked up with a slight smile. "My father gave it to me a week before we started this journey. He told me: hide it from Chiron, don't tell anybody, because you will need it. And you won't need it for yourself. Remember, Apollo is the god of foretelling, medicine, and shooting bows."
The warmth came over Mara, encouraging her to sleep. She allowed the delusion of beauty and comfort take over, and she fell asleep.
Mara pulled out her sword and shield.