YAYAYAYAYAY IT'S FINALLY DONE!
I have been anticipating finishing this chapter for a long time, and I can't even begin to tell you how deeply sorry I am for not updating for so dang long.
I really hope you like it because a LOT of work went into this chapter ;)
CHAPTER SIX: THE SPARTANS RETURN?
My alarm clock woke me up at 5 a.m., 2 hours earlier than it was supposed to. Oh, Nico, you SUCK, I thought coldly. I really hated him right now. Like, serious amount of hate. Not really. Ok, yeah, really. I immediately slammed down on the alarm button, possibly breaking it, and rolled over onto my stomach. I spent about 10 minutes attempting and failing to fall asleep again. See, my body clock works so that when I wake up, it's next to impossible to fall asleep again.
I kicked the covers and sheet down to the end of the bed, and stretched my body as far as it would go. Nico used to tease me that if I stretched every morning I would get taller, so it kind of became a habit. I lay with my face buried in my pillow for a few minutes then picked myself up groggily.
I opened my closet door and pulled out a random outfit that vaguely matched, but was still nice for my first say of school; a slightly tight, purple shirt that read NO TIME 4 H8ERS on the back and my favorite Bermuda shorts. I closed the door as I walked out and headed into the bathroom. Better to shower before anyone else… hot water is better than cold… I thought. Then I smirked. Even if I got the last shower, I could heat the water up myself… or just heat myself.
I set my clothes on the counter and turned on the hot water in the bathtub. While the water warmed up a picked out a huge, plush white towel and hung it over the towel rack to be used. I lugged in a large basket thing to use as a clothes hamper. As I pulled my pajamas off, I began to wonder what it was like for different people.
I mean like, what their life was like, or what they thought about. I wondered about Nico's life before camp. I asked never asked and he had never told me… I assumed that was because it was a sensitive subject for him. I knew Percy had a better life than a LOT of other Half-Bloods at home, even though it was still below my standard for normal people. He had lived with his mom and his ex-step dad Smelly Gabe and moved from boarding school to boarding school until he met Grover. I knew that Annabeth had run away because of her stepmother and siblings. I also knew that she had joined up with Thalia and Luke. I cringed at the thought of him. That traitor… I had run into him once before…
FLASHBACK
I ran as fast as I could in my too-big jeans through the slippery and damp forest. The voices I had heard were closer, louder. I told myself over and over, You're just hearing things… you're just hearing things… but I knew it was a lie. I once again tripped over my pant leg, landing face-first in a huge puddle. I coughed and spluttered, trying to get up.
But my tiny hands kept fumbling and sending me right back into a mud pie. I began to crawl, desperately trying to get to a place to hide. I was about to crawl into a bush when something caught the neck of my shirt. I turned around and saw a giant. Like, a literal giant. He pulled be back with ease, breaking my weak grip on the plants' leaves.
He lifted me up, chuckling at my failed attempt to bite and punch him. He was just raising what looked like a club when a voice made itself known.
"Hey, hey, you don't need to hurt her," he said, walking in behind the giant. The guy had dull blue eyes and dirty blonde hair, and a nasty scar going down one side of his face. But his smile was warm and welcoming, which I found odd. The giant grumbled and gently put me down. I'm pretty sure I was shaking at that point, and the guy walked up to me.
"What's your name?" he asked, his voice slightly less nice. I sniffled.
"C-Crystal," I replied. He nodded.
"What are you doing out here all alone?"
"I… I was running from him," I said quietly, pointing to the giant who was openly picking his nose. I grimaced.
"Oh. Crystal, how old are you?" he demanded.
"I'm… I'm 9," I said, holding up all but one finger. He smiled.
"I'm sorry he was chasing you… I'm Luke by the way," he introduced, holding out a hand. I weakly shook it. I was about to let go when he tugged on my arm, hard. He forced me back into his chest and curled his arm around my neck, so tight I could hardly breathe. He pulled out a knife-looking object and held it to my throat, as if pondering how painful to make my death. He sighed.
"I told him to leave you to me, but, he's just so stubborn… well, it was nice meeting you, Crystal," Luke said evilly, raising the knife. I was about dead when a voice in my mind said, Focus, Crystal… let all your emotions out and direct them at him… it whispered. The voice sounded like a little girl no older than me, but also timeless. I did as I was told. I let all my fear, my anger, and sadness pour out to the brim, and focused on Luke. The next thing I knew he was screaming in pain, kicking me away from him. I looked and saw my whole body alive with flames. I didn't care how this happened, I just ran. And ran. And ran. I wondered how long I ran before that boy found me, with his dark hair and green eyes… he was nice.
END FLASHBACK
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself. I heard a deep roll of thunder in the distance. I opened the door from the bathroom and peeked out the window. I could hear the loud SPLAT! SPLAT! like paintballs hitting a target on the roof. I saw the alley next to the house was flooded like a river; at least a few inches of water flowing down it. Extremely loud thunder cracked right after a strangely long flash of lightning. I had to shove my fist in my mouth to keep myself from screaming, but a little sound still escaped.
Zeus was mad. This was not going to be a fun day in the slightest.
NICO'S POV
I heard someone slam down on something really hard, which woke me up. I smirked, thinking of how my trick with Crystal's alarm clock had worked out. Though I hadn't planned on it waking me up. I sighed and rolled over to go back to sleep.
But only to be woken up about 20 minutes later by the loudest crack of thunder I had ever heard, and that was saying something. Zeus was extremely, very, really, really, mad. The next thing I heard was like a choked little squeak, maybe a muffled scream, and it came from the direction of Crystal's room.
I got up and put on a random robe I found hanging up and knocked on her door.
"Come in," she whispered. I slowly opened the door, and I saw her wrapped up in a towel, her hair dripping. She was frozen in front of the window sill. She slowly turned to me, her beautiful red eyes bloodshot.
"Crystal? What happened?" I asked frantically, running over to her.
"The vision… Nico, we're not going to win…" she whispered in horror. My eyes widened.
"But… we'll have the gods!" I protested. She winced in fear. I held her hand for comfort. After about a minute she took a few deep breathes.
"Ok, well, we're going over to Jake's in an hour for breakfast… we'd better go get ready," she said quietly. I nodded and released her hand. I hadn't realized until then that she was still wrapped in a towel. I turned a slight shade of red as I closed the door. I went back into my room and picked out a normal outfit; a t-shirt with a skull and crossbones, black jeans, and a dark grey hoodie. I also had some black skate shoes to complete the outfit. I quickly smoothed out my hair, even pulled a comb through it once. I brushed my teeth thoroughly and completed the cycle with mouth wash. My new backpack and all my stupid school stuff was next to my bed, ready to be used.
I did an inventory check - notebook, pencils, sword, extra Drachmas… all there. I also put a bottle of water in, just in case a quick IM was needed. I decided some entertainment would be needed, so I grabbed my black iPod and slid it into my hoodie's pocket. With a heavy sigh, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and went downstairs to wait for everyone else.
MY POV
No, no, no… this was wrong… a trick… something! Zeus agreed to help us… what was going on? My thought were swirling in a whirlpool after the lightning. In that flash I had seen a red-haired vampire drinking Bella's blood, Edward and his family being burned to pieces, and 3 vampires with cloaks and blood-red eyes killing the newborns. The gods were nowhere to be seen, nor were my friends. It was just me. And another girl was approaching me, she has long, curly brown hair and confused red eyes. Another newborn. But she seemed… different, she looked confused and scared. She wasn't charging to attack me. Instead she ran up and hid behind me.
"Please, help me!" she pleaded. Then the cloaked figures had taken her from behind med and ripped her to shreds. I cringed as I walked back into the still-steamy bathroom and dried off. I slipped on all my clothes, then opened the bathroom door to let the steam out. I sighed, looking at the tangled mess on my head. My brush was sitting on the counter, clean and new. After about 15 minutes I was able to pull all the tangles out, more or less. I grabbed a hair tie and slipped it around my wrist while I put the front strands of the right side of my hair into a tight, small braid.
After I was all ready and presentable as anyone of my looks could be, I double-checked my backpack. Notebooks, pencils, extra paper, Eruption, bag of Drachmas… all there. I was about to run downstairs when I remembered something very important… well, a few things, really. First I ran to my closet and snatched up a black and white checkered hoodie. Then I slid my iPod Touch into its pocket for entertainment. I then went into the bathroom and picked up my toothbrush. I couldn't believe I had almost forgotten to brush my own teeth.
I squirted some toothpaste onto the bristles and began brushing each tooth thoroughly. After I spit and rinsed off my brush I pulled out a cord of dental floss and get real good in-between all my teeth. And to wrap up my morning activities I swished around some mouthwash. I did a breathe test and decided it was ok.
I slung my backpack over my shoulder and securely closed my door. I considered locking it, but quickly realized I didn't have a key. I shrugged and started down the stairs, expecting to be the first. So I was surprised to see Nico sitting on the couch scrolling through his iPod songs. He didn't notice me, so I just kept walking. I quietly set my bag down at the base of the stairs, and snuck behind the couch. Nico still hadn't noticed me, I was shocked. So I decided to get revenge for his alarm clock trick. I lightly pressed my palms to the back of the couch where he sat.
For a moment I thought he had noticed me, but I sighed in relief when I realized that he hadn't. I channeled my energy to my palms, taking quiet but deep breathes. Then I released the energy and speed-heated the couch to just 10 degrees below the combustion point. Nico sat for half a second, registering the heat, then cried out in pain and jumped a few feet up and away, landing on the floor. I burst out laughing, jumping into the nice, hot spot where Nico had been. It actually felt quite nice. He jumped off the floor, his dark jeans darker from the heat. He rubbed his rear end, swearing in Ancient Greek. I was cracking up.
"Crystal!" he yelled. "Why in the name of Hades did you do that?"
I kept laughing. "Revenge, dear Nico!"
He glared at me, and his dark eyes were black with fury. It was like midnight in a graveyard. (That, by the way, is one of my worst fears; being alone in a graveyard at midnight.) I winced in fear, and shrunk down behind the couch. Only then did I realize that I was actually backing down from a clearly marked challenge. I know that Hestia is supposed to be all calm and never fight or argue etc. etc. etc., but I got my personality from my dad, my mom's temper, and my mom and dad's looks combined.
I rose back up and saw Nico's glare back a notch. That was his mistake. I tilted my head forward, and let loose my full-intensity glare. My red eyes were fiery, like lasers would shoot out of them and disintegrate you any second. When Nico didn't give up, I decided to try a… different approach. This face had always freaked the bullies at my school all to Hades.
I cleared my glare, and made my eyes go black and glassy. Then I stared at Nico, and slowly cocked my head, smiling at the same time. I call it my "haunted doll" stare, because it looks haunted. (A/N: just try that on someone… just make your face totally blank and cock your head while slowly starting to smile… it's CREEPY!) He raised an eyebrow, and I giggled like an insane person. I watched as he took a few, slow steps backwards. I giggled again, and took a step towards him. He started to stumble.
I reached my hands outward, as if to grab him, but I lit them on fire. Then he began running. I started laughing maniacally, and he was really freaked out now.
"Ok ok, I won't do it again, I swear!" he yelled, starting to advance up the stairs. I shook my head, still laughing.
"Please?" he begged. Then I heard people upstairs walking. I heard the light switch in the hall turn on. I saw Percy come down the first few steps. I laughed louder.
"Hey, what's with the yelling?" he demanded. Nico quickly slid behind Percy and shoved him down a few stairs. Percy's eyes widened when he saw my act. He and Nico kept running behind each other until I quit. I rolled my eyes, and put my hands out.
"Oh, that's really manly, you two!" I teased. They grumbled something about unfair advantages, then Percy went back upstairs.
"Dude, that was creepy!" Nico told me, shivering. I smiled sweetly.
"Oh, I know. That was the idea!" I replied simply. He glared lightly at me, and I smiled. I giggled and turned to my iPod and scrolled through the songs, stopping when I got to Eyes On Fire by Blue Foundation. I sat on the couch where it was still warm, and Nico joined me after a few seconds. I offered him my other earbud, and we listened together.
I chewed up the last bite of the French toast Jacob and I had made. Percy wiped the blue food coloring off his fingers, but there was a stain. I giggled at a plot.
"Oh, Percy, I think you have something on your nose," I said innocently, pointing to the tip of his nose. He subconsciously rubbed his fingers on his nose, smearing blue. I laughed, and Annabeth and Nico pitched in.
"What?" Percy demanded. He picked up a spoon and examined his blue nose. His ears turned pink, making the contrast hilarious. He growled.
"Crystal, if you hadn't been claimed and couldn't set yourself on fire I would think you were a Daughter of Hermes!" Annabeth chuckled. I smiled. That was the first thing people assumed me to be. When I came to camp when I was 9, the Stoll Brothers had been a year older… one 2 years, but I couldn't remember which was older. They had welcomed me into their cabin. They taught me all their best pranks. And when Hestia had claimed me, they seemed really sad I wasn't their perfect little sister. With a sigh, I put all the dishes in the sink. Billy promised he could handle them, so we left him to it. I slung on my backpack and waited outside. Annabeth was the first to join me, with her bag over one shoulder.
"Well, are you nervous?" she wondered.
"Sort of… mostly about the Cullens though," I admitted. Ok, even though I liked Nico… WAIT! I DID NOT JUST THINK THAT! NO NO NO NO YOU DID NOT READ THAT! Pretend you never even saw that, ok? Anyway, I have to admit that one of the vampires was really… hot. I mean, they all were, but one in particular really got me. The one with long, blonde hair… I think his name was Jasper? (A/N: TEAM JASPER!) Either way he was hot.
"What about you?" I asked her. She shrugged.
"Even though I'm a Daughter of Athena and I'm supposed to be smart… I'm worried about failing my classes… mostly English," she whispered. I nodded. This was something all demigods could relate to. I remembered an old friend of mine, who now I was sure had been a demigod as well… her name had been something like… um… Rachel? No… Renee? Yes, that's it… her name was Renee. (A/N: FORESHADOW!) She had a very, very small case of Dyslexia and she could keep up a C in English. Everyone else came onto the deck, ready to go.
"I'll go phase and call Quil and Embry," he called as he ran into the trees, pulling his shirt off. I turned my head slightly. He was my cousin… sort of. I had no desire to see him shirtless. We waited for about 2 minutes before Jacob came with his friends. Nico and I hopped on Jake's back, while Grover, Annabeth, and Percy got on Embry. Then I pondered the reason for Quil being here.
"He's here so that if anyone comes or sees us he'll let us know… sort of like a watch dog," Grover offered. I nodded slowly. Before I could get a good enough grip on either Nico or Jake's fur he took off like a bullet. I would have gone flying off if Nico hadn't grabbed my hand and pulled me back up. I blushed, and lightly grabbed his shoulders. It only took about 8 minutes to get there, more or less. They stopped in the woods next to the school, and we all made our way towards the faint light as they padded on back to La Push. When we walked out of the forest, I came first. There was a group of boys hanging around one of their cars talking and joking around. When I walked out, a breeze ruffled my hair, catching their attention. One spotted me, and elbowed the others. When Annabeth followed, their stares grew heavier. A few seconds later Nico came out and hurried to my side, walking closer than usual. I stifled a giggle. Was he jealous? Percy walked up to Annabeth and took her hand. She blushed, and looked like she was about to pull away, but glanced at the group of guys and changed her mind. Grover pulled up the rear and walked in the gap between Nico and Percy, trying not to feel like a third wheel… or in this case a fifth.
As we walked through the group of people, they all stared at us. We approached the steps to the main office, and I saw the welcoming sign.
WELCOME TO FORKS HIGH SCHOOL, HOME OF THE SPARTANS!
I laughed. The Spartans. That might have been the most ironic thing I had ever seen. Everyone else laughed with me. A roll of mumbled trailed us, but we ignored them. When we got to the front office, we saw a middle-aged lady writing something down on a calendar. I cleared my throat and she looked up.
"Oh, hello. How can I help you?" she asked, putting down her pen.
"We're the new students," I said simply. Then I realized we were all… un-related. Grover and Percy were passing as brothers, but none of us looked enough alike to be family. Cousins, maybe. Well, technically, we were cousins… sort of… the Gods didn't have DNA but… oh you get it.
"Alright, names?" she asked.
"Percy and Grover Jackson," Percy started. I wondered how those two could ever pass for brothers, besides their strong emotional relationship.
"Annabeth Chase." After Annabeth's name I pretty much just spaced out, my eyes darting around. I wasn't seeing anything, but my eyes were still moving.
"Name, dear?" the lady repeated to me. Nico punched my arm and I snapped out of my trance.
"Oh, uh, Crystal Johnson," I replied. She nodded and handed all of us our schedules. We sat down on a bench to compare.
"I'll go first," I volunteered and attempted to read my schedule.
CTYRASL JOSHNONFEAMSRHN FKORS HGIH SHLOOCYAER 20101ST HUOR: HTRISOY2ND HUOR: CRHEISTMY3RD HUOR: BOLGIOY4TH HUOR: MTAH5TH HUOR: EILSNGH6TH HUOR: P.E.7TH HUOR: ART
I was having a hard time deciphering the text, so Grover stepped in. He read all of our schedules, and I found out that I had History with Nico and Annabeth, Chemistry with Grover, Biology with Percy and Annabeth, Math with Nico and Grover, English with all of them, P.E. with Grover and Annabeth, and Art alone.
I sighed. I mean, I liked art and all, but it was just… boring without your friends there. We walked around the school and found our lockers in the 20 minutes we had before school started. When we found ourselves back outside, somehow taking a wrong turn to get there, we spotted Bella by her truck reading. I watched her for a moment. My eyes were distracted by a sudden flash of silver pull into a park spot next to Bella. I saw Edward Cullen step out of the car, and my jaw dropped.
Who had enough money to afford a Volvo, especially in this micro town? I was more surprised when the beautiful blonde vampire pulled up next to Edward in a red Mustang convertible with the rest of her family. She shot a short glare at Bella, then went inside gracefully. Edward held Bella's hand, and she didn't flinch away from his cold skin. Oh, that poor girl… Edward would be so beside himself when he killed her. I sighed and turned to go back inside.
Nico caught my arm and I turned to where he was looking. I noticed Edward, Jasper, and Alice watching us curiously. I blushed slightly when I saw Jasper meet my eyes. His eyes were a shining gold, and deeper than Athena's mind. I could have stared into them forever if the bell to go to class didn't ring. I heard it before it rang, (don't ask) and I started back inside, a step ahead of Nico and Annabeth. I was the first one in the History room. The teacher gave me a seat in the middle of the room, Annabeth in front of me and Nico behind me. We were flipping through our text books and picking out all the errors in their Ancient Greece section when the other students poured in.
All eyes first darted to my bright red eyes, made brighter by the artificial lights, almost looking orange. Some guy with messy brown hair and ordinary brown eyes sat down next to me, followed by some preppy-looking chic with curly brown hair who sat down in front of him.
"Hey, uh, you're all new?" the guy asked, pointing to me then motioning to the rest of my friends. I nodded.
"Oh, well, I'm Mike Newton," he greeted, holding out his hand. I shrugged and reached to shake it. When I gripped his hand he pulled away immediately.
"Whoa… you're skin's really hot…" he noted. I sighed and folded my hands under my chin. Mike introduced himself to Nico and Annabeth, while the girl in front of him glared at Annabeth and I.
"Come on Jessica, ease up," Mike suggested to the girl, who flicked her hair behind her shoulder and faced the front where the teacher was pulling down a white screen. He flipped off the lights and turned on an overhead projector. I gulped. I wasn't a huge fan of the dark. Nico seemed to be relaxed, maybe more than usual, while Annabeth was fiddling with her pencil. I shrank back slightly. Nico patted my shoulder once and I flicked his hand away. When the movie finally came on, it was titled, MIDEVIL LIFE IN EUROPE. I groaned. Unless it had something to do with either Greece or Rome, I couldn't care less. I yawned and almost fell asleep until the lights flashed on. I quickly sat upright and stifled a yawn, rubbing my eyes. The bell rang just as the teacher was assigning us homework, so he kept us in late to finish.
"You are to do a report on any country and its cultures in Europe in medieval times. No earlier than 6,000 years ago!" he explained as he handed us an outline with all the countries in Europe. I immediately flew my finger to Greece, as did the rest of my friends. The teacher released us.
"Um excuse me Mr. Knight, could my friends and I do this as a group project?" I asked.
"Fine, as long as you each write your own paper."
I smiled, and we walked outside to your 5 minute break. My eyes wandered to the woods, and then wished the hadn't. There were a pair of bloodshot red eyes, looking thirsty and desperate. The second after I spotted them they vanished, a leaf twitching the only evidence of the eyes having ever been there.
Chemistry went by uneventfully, I only caused one minor fire. In Biology I had to sit out while Percy and Annabeth and the rest of the class dissected star fish. Annabeth came out after I heard a few "Ewwws". I spaced out for the most part in Math, until Bella started talking to me.
"Hey," she greeted. I looked up.
"Oh, hi," I said uncaringly, turning my attention back to the teacher.
"Um, I hope you and the Cullens can get along ok…" she mumbled.
"Me too," I said simply. "Me too…"
The bell rang and I was off to English with everyone. I sighed my heaviest sigh, considering ditching. But I wasn't given much of a choice when someone dragged me into a mop closet and locked the door, though not before tossing in Nico, Annabeth, Percy, and Grover.
"Don't worry, this is only temporary until Victoria and Kronos decide how to deal with you," he whispered, and I recognized his ordinary brown eyes through the soon covered window. I snarled and tried to ram to door open. Yeah, that was one of my stupidest moves. We didn't have our backpacks with our weapons and Nectar and Ambrosia. So naturally I hit a steel door with my head and knock myself out. Really smooth, Crystal…
Whew! That was a LONG chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I went back and edited it over and over… I wanted it to be worth the wait. And again, I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO (10 years later) SOOOOOOOO sorry it's been so long… I didn't mean to put it off for so long but my life has been rather bad. My grandmother had a heart attack, my mom's getting surgery, my rib finally healed, my dad got home and apparently we're going rafting (recipie for DISASTER) and I'm going to Michigan this weekend and the week after I get back I'm going to Denver and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh too much happening .
ok I swear on the River Styx to update sooner! Ok? But really I do like reviews!