The Search for the Lost Mousai
Chapter Eight
Bird calls with constant wings fluttering to random animals' cries reached Mel's ears. Opening her eyes, Mel stood up. She looked around at the many vines coiled around the trees, followed by tons of leafy overgrowth. With so much plant life, she wondered how deep in the jungle she really was.
Wrapping her belt around her waist, Mel gasp as a few snakes slithered by her feet. Moments later, she looked up, spotting monkeys swinging from the vines above her. Looking back down, her eyes widen at the sight of lions, panthers and jaguars heading right for her, or so she thought. They ran around her and kept on running, never looking back.
That's when she felt the earth shake beneath her feet. Turning around in the direction the animals came from. Her eyes went wide at the sight of a massive black boar charging right at her.
Swallowing hard, Mel looked around. She thought about jumping out of the way, but with the plant life so intense, she probably wouldn't make it.
Crouching down, Mel's eyes narrowed as the boar grew closer. The moment it was close enough, she jumped high in the air. She came down on the animal's back and took off running. Struggling to keep standing, Mel kept her balance as she finally jumps off the boar and rolled on the ground.
Wincing, Mel stood up. Dusting herself off, she looked back at the boar, who was still charging through the jungle. But it was odd because if the boar was gone, why did she still feel the earth shaking under her feet? Then she remembered from her vision there was not one boar but two.
Turning around, Mel looked behind her and gasp as another massive black boar was charging toward her and this time she couldn't get out of its way.
That's when Mel felt something wrap around her waist and pull her into the overgrowth just as the boar passed by.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked, just above a whisper.
"Yeah, thanks for the save," Mel said.
Mel turned around and looked into the dark red eyes of a woman with matching color hair. But the moment a bit of sunlight peaked through the canopy and touched the woman's hand, she dipped back into the shadows of the overgrowth.
"Okay?" Mel said, raising an eyebrow.
"Sunlight doesn't agree with me," the woman said. "My name is Elizabeth, by the way."
"I am Mel," she said.
"As in Melpomene, the muse of tragedy?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes, how did you know?"
"I am part of the GSL covert squad." Elizabeth said. "There's been lots of squads sent out to unusual hotspots hoping to find a muse."
"So, you were sent here, and you found Terpsichore," Mel said.
Yes, but she's accompanied by another person heading that way," Elizabeth said, pointing to where both boars went.
"Well, let's go and I'll explain how I got here on the way." Mel said.
Nodding, both Elizabeth and Mel ran down the path after the boars.
Back in the clearing, Jessica's eyes narrowed as she grips the hilt of her sword. Percy stood in front of the two muses with his sword in hand, ready for anything.
Behind Percy, Thalia held a spear and Clio picked up a sword, then looked around. Spotting the shield on one of the training dummies, she pulled it off and stood beside Thalia.
"You know how to use a spear?" Clio asked.
"No, but I watched a few movies where some men were using them," Thalia said. "What about you? What's with the sword and shield?
"I don't know, it just feels right in my hands," Clio said, giving the sword a few swings.
Clio and Thalia grew silent and stood ready as the wraiths grew closer.
Two wraiths charged at Jessica. While avoiding one, she held up her sword, blocking the other one blow. Her eyes narrowed as she pushed the wraith back. Glancing at her sword, she noticed it had turned gray and began feeling heavy in her hand. Flicking it, she was glad when her sword felt lighter and returned to its normal color.
"Ah, looks like this is gonna be a tricky one," Jessica said, followed by a smirk.
Percy slashed away at a few wraiths. He even tried kicking, but the moment his foot came in contact with the Wraith's hand, he noticed a gray color slowly creep up his shoe. Percy pulled his foot out just as his sneaker turned to stone.
Kicking his shoe off, Percy shook his head. The moment the shoe hit the ground, it shattered. Crap, he really liked those shoes.
"Be careful, you two," Percy said, as he kicked off his other shoe.
Clio and Thalia nodded. No matter how hard Percy and Jessica tried to keep the wraiths on them, two slipped by and approach the muses.
Thalia swallowed hard as she stabs her spear through a wraith. She smiled, thinking she got him, but the wraith grab the spear and it steadily turned gray. Clio sliced through the spear before it reached Thalia's hand.
Swirling around, Clio's eyes gave off a glow as she sliced the wraith in half and it disappeared before their eyes.
"How did you do that?" Thalia asked.
"I don't know, but you need to get another weapon," Clio said, her eyes remaining on the other wraith.
Thalia looked at the weapons. She thought about grabbing the sword, but she was never good with those. Next were the throwing knives and daggers. But that didn't feel right either. Perhaps the long sword, no that looked too heavy.
What could she use? Looking at one of the dummies, Thalia saw it holding a wooden staff. She couldn't explain it, but the moment she laid eyes on the staff, her body felt at ease. When she ran over to the staff and pulled it out of the dummy's hand, it was like she was meant to use this weapon.
The moment the wraith approached Thalia, her eyes flickered as she swung her staff, ripping through the wraith as it disappeared.
"Nice one, sis," Clio said.
"Thanks, Thalia said. "Do you think we can do this?"
"I don't know. But I do hope Mel is faring much better than we are."
Meanwhile, back in the jungle, Elizabeth and Mel were still running to catch up with the boars.
"Having the ability to find your sister, save them from this ritual, and save the world is usually a normal day at the GSL." Elizabeth said.
"Well, for me it's, It's complicated."
Elizabeth nodded, and Mel left it at that.
Elizabeth and Mel stopped and duck behind some large plants. They peeked out, watching the boars who were watching Terpsichore dancing. They watched as she turned around slowly and moved with the rhythm of her surroundings as her teal blue aura glistened.
Mel smiled, which threw Elizabeth off guard.
"This happened in my vision," Mel whispered to her.
"Did anything happen after that?"
"No, vision stopped here."
The other woman by Terpsichore looked around the area until she laid eyes on two people peeking out from the plants. The woman sneaks pass the boars and walked over to them. She stared at the both of them for a while before bowing slightly.
"My name is Annabeth Chase and I have no idea what's going on," the woman said.
"My name is Melpomene. I'm the muse of tragedy and this is Elizabeth," Mel said. "Long story short, my sisters have been kidnapped for a ritual and we are here to save them and the world. "
"Ah, okay count me in," Annabeth said, as she looked at the woman beside Mel. "I know an Elizabeth."
"Yes, you do, but what's important is getting the two of them out of here and back to the GSL."
"The GSL?" Annabeth asked.
"The Golden Sun Library," Elizabeth said.
"Oh yeah, I've heard of it before. Annabeth said, looking back at the boars and Terpsichore. "So how are we going to do that exactly?
Elizabeth remained quiet as she stared at the boars, then back at Mel and Terpsichore.
"I'm thinking," Elizabeth said, scratching her chin. "I'm thinking."
Meanwhile, back in the clearing, Thalia and Clio stood back to back, slicing and smacking away the wraiths that slipped by Percy and Jessica.
"This is fun and tiring," Thalia said, smacking another wraith.
"Yes, a good way to relive stress," Clio said, slicing through another wraith.
Percy twirled around, slicing through wraith after wraith. Jessica's eyes narrowed as she sliced through two more wraiths and noticed they were finally slowing down.
Percy stood beside Jessica, clearing out a few more wraiths, with Jessica slicing through the last one.
"You think that's the last of them?" Percy asked.
Before Jessica could say a word, a group of wraiths entered the clearing. They circled around each other, moving faster and faster. Within moments, a huge light flash before them.
When the light cleared, hovering before them was a massive gray wraith.
"Clio and Thalia looked up at the large wraith. Their mouths were open while Jessica smiled.
"Well, this just got more interesting." Jessica said, chuckling a little.
"While I'm happy you're excited about this," Percy said sarcastically. "But you do have a plan, right?"
"Nope," Jessica said, followed by a smile. "I'm just playing it by ear."
"Great," Percy mumbled.
"I take it we don't have a plan?" Thalia asked.
"No, which means things might get dicey," Percy said, his eyes still on the giant wraith.
Back in the jungle, Annabeth and Mel made their way over to Terpsichore. They kept their distant while Terpsichore kept dancing. But the moment Terpsichore laid eyes on Mel, a smile trickled across her lips.
Sister, have you come to save me?
Yes, we have a plan. Just be prepared to run."
Terpsichore's smile grew as she continued dancing.
Annabeth and Mel looked over at Elizabeth, who was behind the boars. Elizabeth's eyes gave off a reddish glow that trickled down to her body. Her lips moved, but no words came out. Moments later, Annabeth and Mel felt something brush across their legs and feet. They looked down as multiple kinds of snakes slithered past them. Soon, more and more snakes appeared as Elizabeth's aura grew. Mel quickly looked up and noticed Terpsichore's eyes widen and her body twitch as one word continued echoing through their link.
"Snakes…. snakes oh man."
"It's alright, they won't hurt you," Mel said calmly.
"No, it is not alright! There must be dozens, hundreds of dozens." "MEL!"
Mel winced. Noticing this, Annabeth looked at her.
"Are you okay?"
"It's Terpsichore. She hates snakes." Mel said.
"Uh oh," Annabeth said.
"Uh oh indeed."
Terpsichore's body jerked even more the moment the snakes headed in her direction.
"I know it's hard, but focus on dancing. It will be alright," Mel said soothingly.
The link between Mel and Terpsichore went silent as she continued dancing as the snakes brushed past her legs. The snakes headed toward the boars. Crawling up their legs, tail and all over their bodies, it didn't take long before the snakes covered both boars. Elizabeth looked back at Annabeth and Mel.
The two nodded as they reach out their hands to Terpsichore.
"Run!" they screamed.
Terpsichore took a hold of their hands. Within moments Annabeth, Mel and Terpsichore took off running.
The snakes bit down on the boars the moment they broke out of the trance. More and more snakes covered the boars and, in seconds, one boar was gone. The other boar, bruised and bloody, shook off the snakes. It turned to Elizabeth, snorting it charged in her direction.
Because of the snake bites and venom running through its body, the boar was much slower and disoriented. Pulling out her sword, Elizabeth charged at the boar, cutting through it completely. When she turned around, the boar disappeared, but a steel flask stood on the ground with sparkling teal blue liquid inside.
Elizabeth approached the flask only to be kicked back by a man with black hair and menacing blue eyes.
"Sorry, that flask is mine," the man said.
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed as she charged at the man. Pulling out his sword, he twirled around her, slashing her back and then across her stomach, ending with a kick to her legs that knocked her off her feet.
Pushing the pain to the back of her mind, Elizabeth jumped back up.
The moment the man picked up the flask, Elizabeth ran up to him and kicked it out of his hand.
As the flask went up into the air, the man stabbed Elizabeth in the stomach. Gritting her teeth, Elizabeth squeezed the man's hand and gave off a red glow. She kicked him in the chest. Stumbling backwards, he fell into a pile of snakes, screaming.
Elizabeth held out her hand, catching the flask and pulling out the sword with the other. Applying pressure to the wound, she took off running to catch up with the others.
Annabeth, Mel, and Terpsichore continued running through the jungle. Pushing through the overgrowth, they spotted a body of water ahead.
The moment they reached the spot, the three of them sat down to take a break.
"Thank you both for helping me," Terpsichore said.
"You're welcome, but we still need to get out of here," Annabeth said.
Mel touched her belt and pulled out a gold GSL coin. It must have fallen in with one of the throwing knives' pockets. Mel broke the coin, but nothing happened. Sighing, she threw it into the water.
"What was that?" Annabeth asked.
"It was supposed to be a way out, but I guess it's broken." Mel said.
Silenced dance around the three of them, but it was short lived when the water bubbled. The three stood up as the body of water glowed, showing them an image that wasn't their reflection.
It was that of a vast space near a cliff by a camp in the distance.
"It's the clearing," Mel said.
Annabeth put her hand in the water into the image. When she pulled it out, it was dry. Terpsichore and Mel smiled.
"You two go ahead," Annabeth said.
What about Elizabeth?" Mel said.
"I'll wait for her."
Nodding, both Mel and Terpsichore jumped through the image.
Moments later, Elizabeth emerged, holding a flask and clenching her stomach with blood dripping between her fingers.
"We found a way out," Annabeth said, pointing to the image of the clearing in the water.
"You could have left with the others."
"No, I remember who you are, and we have a lot to talk about."
Elizabeth tumbled a little, but Annabeth helped her. Nodding, the two of them jumped into the image just as it disappeared.
In the clearing, Jessica, Percy, Clio and Thalia were about to charge the huge wraith when they noticed a circular object in the sky.
Seconds later, four people came out, dropping on top of the wraith. It fell to the ground, unable to hold the weight on top of it. Jessica and Percy run toward the scene first. Stepping on the wraith's face, Jessica stuck her sword through the creature's head before helping Percy.
A smile spread across Percy's lips the moment he saw Annabeth. She smiled back at him as Percy helped her up.
"Hey there," Annabeth said.
"Hey yourself," Percy replied.
They continued smiling at each other as they hugged.
Jessica helped Elizabeth stand up. Noticing the flask in her hand, Elizabeth handed it over to her.
"I'm glad you're safe, Jessica said.
Nodding, Elizabeth clutched her stomach as the blood dripped from her wound. Jessica bit her lip, forcing herself to keep her anger in check.
"I am sorry to have worried you," Elizabeth said.
Jessica scoffed. "I... I wasn't worried."
Looking over at the encampment, a content sigh escaped Jessica's lips. With the shouting and clashing noises gone. Everything had finally returned to normal.
"Let's get ya fixed up, Jessica said.
Elizabeth nodded. Jessica looked at Mel, who nodded to Jessica as she rose to her feet. She watched as Jessica and Elizabeth headed to the encampment. Smiling, she turned around and help Terpsichore up, only to get hugged from behind by Clio and Thalia.
"Hello you two," Mel said.
They poked their heads out from behind Mel to see Terpsichore. They ran over to her and hugged her. Much to Terpsichore's surprise, she smiled and hugged them right back.
"Oh, you, I am glad to see your faces again. I thought I was going to stay in that jungle forever." Terpsichore said.
"Well, you're here now. Come on, let's head back. We have a lot to talk about," Thalia said.
Clio, Thalia, and Terpsichore held hands as they head back to camp. Mel smiled, watching them. Percy and Annabeth stood beside her.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Percy asked.
"I'm glad Terpsichore is safe. It's funny. We seem to be closer than we ever have been before." Mel said.
"Adventures like this changes people, "Annabeth said. "It shows deep down that you all truly care about each other."
"Is it wrong never wanting them to go back to the way they were before?" Mel asked.
"Not one bit," Annabeth said.
"Come on, let's head back," Percy said.
"I'll be there shortly." Mel said.
Nodding, Percy and Annabeth headed back to the encampment, leaving Mel alone with her thoughts.
Mel was glad to save another sister, but she needed to do this faster. While it's good, the GSL is deploying people to help, but it just doesn't seem to be enough.
"I can help."
A voice echoed around Mel.
Looking around, Mel noticed a dark spot by the cliff for a moment. She watched as the spot steadily grew in size.
"Mel!"
Turning around, Mel smiled as she saw Thalia waving to her. She turned around back to the cliff and the dark spot was gone. Shaking it off, Mel ran to Thalia. She didn't know what that was. She could only hope it was her imagination.
Back in the jungle, Josh pulled the snakes off his body. He grit his teeth as the pain of the bites surged through his body. Taking a deep breath, he pushed as venom oozed out of the bite marks. He had lost the flask. No doubt Aidan would be furious. Pushing through the pain, Josh disappeared. He needed to get his hands on a Muses essence or he would have more to worry about than these snake bites.