We met Ellie by the back of a large, faded red semi-truck. A large winged bird had been painted on the side with flames bursting off it and was peeling off in large chunks making it look like it was going bald.. "I could hear you from over here, it sounded great!" She announced handing me my bag back.

"I didn't think so." I complained. "I was a little out of tune."

"Not to mention rushing..." insulted Lexie. "Oh and I don't mean to burst your bubble, but I think we'd better climb in now." She pointed over to the diner. "I think the driver's getting ready to go."

The man she was talking about had fiery-red hair and wore a black uniform with yellow and orange flames going across it, it looked more like a bowling shirt than a delivery uniform. Across the back is said "Phoenix Delivery - we'll get it there, flame or fire ." in flaming letters.

I turned back to Lexie and saw her visibly cringe. "What people get paid to wear nowadays..." she mumbled

Ellie and I nodded and followed her into the back of the vehicle. I was surprised by how dark it was inside. the only source of light was a small air vent on top that let in the moonlight. There were wooden boxes stacked along the sides.

Lexie sat down on a crate across from me and Ellie. She was staring at something in her hand. "What is that?" I asked, hoping to break the silence as the truck started.

"I don't know, it was on the ground." She handed me a blazing orange feather. "It feels really warm. I don't know why though, it's freezing in here." She was right, the feather was extremely warm, my palms were starting to sweat just holding it. "Ellie, you know anything about birds?"

She shook her head violently. "I hate the things, foul creatures."

Lexie shrugged and took the feather back from me. "I'm probably just being paranoid. She stuck the feather into her hair like a Native American and we all chuckled quietly. "How about you two get some sleep I want to think about something."

"Lex, you look exhausted, I think you're the one that needs rest, I'll keep watch." Offered Ellie. "I got to rest while you two were helping Apollo."

My sister started to argue but gave in as she began to yawn. "Fine, but wake me if you get tired." She rolled over and used her backpack as a pillow, she was snoring away in seconds.

A few awkward seconds passed before I spoke. "You sure you don't want me to keep watch? You must still be tired."

"No, I'll be fine.." A few more moments passed between us. "You should probably go to sleep too." She leaned against the wall of the truck.

She handed me my backpack and I placed it behind me. "Thanks." I braced myself between the trucks wall and another crate. "You're a great friend."

There was a moment of silence before she spoke. "You think we could be more than friends?" Her voice was shaky and nervous. I'm certain that if it hadn't been so dark we both would have laughed at how embarrassed we both were. "I mean, if you want to?" She blurted out quickly.

"I think I should have asked you that." I was at least just as nervous as her. "Isn't that how it works?"

"Well you were taking too long, so I beat you to it." She answered smugly. I was relieved that she understood what I had meant. We both moved closer cautiously, hoping to not push the others boundaries. "We're both going to need to talk about this in the morning."

"Agreed, talk in the morning." She kissed me softly on the cheek before pushing me back to where I had been laying. Eventually, I fell asleep.

I was standing in a large room made entirely out of marble. There were twelve, enormous thrones in a U-shape, surrounding the center. A small hearth burned in front of all the thrones. At each throne sat twelve equally gigantic people yelling at the top of their lungs at the other. The only conclusion I could come to is that they were gods.

"They almost destroyed each other! How can we expect them to work with each other now that the threat is gone!" Shouted a god wearing a pinstriped suit. He pointed towards a goddess with black hair and intense grey eyes. "This is the only way to undo the death Gaea caused. You lost children in this war too, don't you want to undo what happened?"

"Father, of course I miss the sons and daughters I lost but you don't seem to comprehend what might happen if they find out we did this again!" The goddess looked straight at me, but continued speaking as if I wasn't there. "We do this again and we put them all at risk. All I'm asking is to let them remember their lessons."

"Athena, we let them remember and they'll kill each other."

"You aren't thinking, what if they need to work together again! Alot of blood was spilt bringing them together, do you really wish to see it happen again!" I was frozen solid. This was my mother arguing with Zeus. "Their blood will be on your hands!"

"I was against it from the start, this is not my doing. I am undoing the damage that has been done!" Zeus turned to each god and goddess in the room and said "If any of you meddle around with this, you can join Kronos in Tartarus! This Council is dismissed."

The rest of the gods left, but Athena remained. She walked over to where I stood. "Sean... Don't let this lead to more war. Austin and the others are just the beginning."

"What do you mean?" I asked surprised. "War?"

"It is too late to avoid it now, all we can do is prepare."

I wanted to ask "prepare for what?", but she was talking again before I could.

"If you succeed in freeing your friends, you and your sister will face many hardships, but if you fail war will be upon us."

My vision blurred as the room grew dark. Eventually my vision was pitch black. A few moments passed before a small flame flickered into view. The flame grew in intensity until I could see my battered sister tied to a wooden chair. I could hear her weeping, pleading to be set free.

A pale, blonde haired kid was standing angrily over her. She was struggling against her bindings when the boy smacked her hard across the face, leaving a bright red mark on her cheek. "Tell me!" He yelled. She didn't answer. "If you don't tell me I will get it from your friend."

"He doesn't know anything, hes an idiot!" She blurted out quickly. The sound of chains rattled as she shook.

The dream moved me closer to her, roughly an arms length away. At this distance I could see just how abused she was. She was covered in dirt and grime and her hair was caked with dried blood, her camp shirt was in tatters resembling a filthy rag more than a shirt. Her entire body was covered in bruises varying from black to yellow, I could see that her wrists and ankles were turning raw from struggling against the ropes binding to her to the chair. On her face a slash ran across her cheek, her right arm and left leg each had a jagged gash running down them. It looked as if someone had slowly dragged a knife down and stopped every time she tried to get away, only causing her to cut herself even more.

I wanted to scream, ask if she was okay, to prevent the blond boy from doing anything worse, but my voice refused to work and I couldn't move. It felt as if my body was encased in granite, completely immobilized..

"That's not an answer." He said in a frightening tone. He grabbed the chair and flung her to the ground. "This is taking too long!" He pulled her back upright and pulled out a knife. "Tell me what I want to know or I'll cut you to shreds." He ran the blade along her throat. "I know you're plotting something. Now tell me what!"

"I told you," She sobbed, "we don't have-!" He smacked her again. She sat hunched over for several seconds taking in raspy breaths. She lifted her head up slowly, blood dripping from her nose. "Just let me go, I only wanted to free my friends!" She sobbed in desperation

"Don't lie to me!" He shouted again before punching her.

"What did I ever do to you!" She shrieked as he struck her a second time. "Why are you doing this to me!"

He prepared to use his fist again. "If you tell me what I want to know I won't have to do this." He offered.

"I can't tell you something that doesn't exist, are you really that crazy!" She was now crying, the tears mixing with the blood on her face to form heavy droplets on her chin and fell on her torn shirt.

"Don't you ever call me crazy! You are a prisoner of Rome! You have no rights." He struck her on the temple with the hilt of his knife. She went limp, Lexie stopped resisting against the bindings. "She'll break eventually," He said to himself as he walked to the door, "or she'll die in the process." He slammed the door shut and the lone candle blew out.

Sean: Lexie loves that last line, and I like it too.

Lexie: That line is freaking AWESOME! HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE IT!? I would go through the process of making an entire movie to just see that one part.