Hello there, my readers! No, I haven't come back early, my mom just let me use her laptop. Now, to business! Weather is great here in California, and I swear I've gone on every ride there is. Today I bought a key to the Tower of Terror (they have so many spares!), and rode on it... let's see... *counts on fingers* 3... no... 6... no... 5 times! As for California Screamin', my mom only let me go on it once because the line is a giant spaghetti noodle of fifty people, but still, my throat still hurts from, well, screamin'! My feet hurt too. World of Color last night was totally awesome and I forced my eight year old cousin to go on Matterhorn; she loved it! Ok, well, enough of my rambling, on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: really? While I'm on vacation? Rude. Well, I don't own PJO, as much as I wished I did.
Chapter 12
"I am sick of trains." Owl complained on their third one. They had sixteen monster attacks on their way to the next train station each time. "All of us are." Trout replied, staring at the ceiling. "After we get off this one, we're taking a car, and that's final." "But we don't know how to drive!" Fox pointed out. "Who told you that?" she asked, flashing him a mischievous grin. "I've been around for a while and I've been on enough quests to figure out a car. Brakes, gas, windshield wipers, signal to turn- yeah, I know how to drive." they had made good time; they got from Montana to the edge of North Dakota, and now this train was taking them to Minneapolis, Minnesota. All in two days. When the train stopped, Owl ran out the door and almost tripped on the stairs. Fox and Trout followed more slowly. She slipping on a jacket. "I forgot Minnesota was cold." she muttered. The boys nodded and pulled on their jackets. "So… what's the plan?" Fox asked. "Well, first, to not be spied on." Owl pulled out her bow and notched an arrow with a Spiritual Crystal type and shot it into the woods, then walked into the shadows where mortals couldn't see in. Pinned to a tree was a demigod, and the arrow went straight through the scruff of his shirt. He was struggling to pull it out, but Owl just said absentmindedly, "That's Spiritual Crystal, it only allows the owner of it to pull it out. Now," she looked at the boy. "to business. First, who do you work for?" he glared at her, then spat, "Quid loquar vobis?" translation: Why should I tell you? "Because," she looked into his cold blue eyes. "Ego hoc potest." translation: I can do this. The boy stared at her. "Now, I am going to repeat myself, slower. Who. Do. You. Work. For?" "I would rather die than give away information!" he hissed. "Ah, Roman. That's pure Roman blood for you, boys." Owl flashed at confused Fox and Trout. "How could you have figured out?" the boy asked. "I've been to Camp Jupiter. I was even praetor once. That was fun. Good times at that Roman camp. I remember my first few days. I got stuffed in a sack full of weasels and tossed into the Little Tiber for being late for dinner." she smiled at the memory. The Roman stared at her. "Oh, and don't believe I got your name." she turned back to him. "Ben." he muttered. "And why were you spying on us?" "Because the auguries said that there could be demigods of different races out there." "Mmm, well, someone needs to destroy those auguries, because it could cause another war, which would result in millions of dead people, and we don't want that, now do we? It's best if I wipe your memory of this meeting." Owl placed her hands on both sides of his head, then the boy slumped. She took out the arrow and slipped it back into her quiver. "Alright boys, I don't think one more train would hurt us, because I have a lot of explaining to do."
They reluctantly boarded the next train, and Owl began. "I've been keeping the truth from you guys for too long. It started back when I first came into camp. The three demigods chosen went on their quest, and came back with news of a different race of demigods. We met with them, and at first it was friendly. But some people didn't think it was right, so they set the camps against each other. At first it started small, but then the Romans got involved. Following them were the Egyptians, they aren't demigods, but they were wizards and followed a path of a god or goddess. By then, all of the half-bloods, magicians, sorcerers, you name it- all of them were there. The monsters joined in, just for the fun, and then the mortals did too. The whole world was at war. After five years of bloodshed, not much was left. So, the gods wiped the mind of every living thing of every detail of the war. But the thing is, nothing can really completely be forgotten. They had to leave the memory of it in some people's minds. I was chosen, so were a few others, and a couple monsters. One out of all the races remember the war. We move around, and when we're about to die, we regenerate, as I like to call it. So few of us left… but we are the most powerful. We are blessed by almost all the gods. But each time we regenerate, the youth goddesses bless us again. We can never die, unless we uncover the memories of someone from the same race. But… the war, the Great Forgotten War, it's so horrible, so bloody… I could never give the memory back to someone… it would be a curse on their life, and they would never forgive me…" Owl stared at her hands, tears pricking her eyelids, but she blinked them back and looked out the window. Fox could tell there was something else she wasn't telling them, something deeper from her past, but he decided not to press her. After all, if the war was so terrible that the gods had to wipe it from everyone's memory except for a few, he probably wouldn't want to share everything either. The rest of the train ride was silent, and it stopped at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They got out and headed to a restaurant, Red Robin was the name. Owl took a seat, mumbling about the name of the restaurant. "Seriously, it's just rude so soon after I've changed, and I'm not even going to start about how uncreative the name is. Whenever you hear 'robin' your mind immediately think of it's red chest." and so forth, until Fox finally stuffed her napkin in her mouth, so she was forced to spit out napkin bits until their food came. The waiter kept casting her curious glances, but Owl just looked at her food and attacked her salad ravenously. Trout tried not to laugh, muffling it with a cough. Suddenly, Audrey the unicorn and her two fillies crashed though the window. "Audrey? What are you guys doing here?" Owl asked, standing up. Panting heavily, she managed to spit out, "Camp Odin… under attack… finish quest… to stop it…" "JUST GET ON OUR BACKS!" Marie yelled. Owl looked at her friends, then swung a leg over Audrey and hoisted herself up. Fox jumped on Marie and Trout jumped on Tulip, and they raced outside before the mortals could register what was happening. "Hold tight!" Tulip warned. Owl translated back to the boys. The three unicorns closed their eyes and their horns started glowing with golden light. It flashed, and there was a moment of pure bliss, then they tumbled out on grassy ground, the air around them fresh. Owl got up an brushed herself off, and the unicorns scrambled back to their hooves. She walked over to Fox, who was sprawled out on his back, and offered him her hand. He took it, and she hauled him up. Fox went over to Trout and helped up while Owl studied their surroundings. Suddenly, her eyes widened, she stiffened, then collapsed on her knees, breathing raggedly. All of them ran towards her. She was shaking, her eyes were wide with fear, and sweating. They all called to her and shook her, but she was frozen. It was several minutes before she finally stopped, took a deep breath, and rolled on her back. "Owl?" Fox asked uncertainly. Her eyes flicked towards him. "Yeah?" "Are you ok?" "No, I'm not. Audrey, why did we teleport here?" the unicorn shuffled her hooves and replied, "I didn't mean to. Something pulled us here, something powerful." Owl got to her feet and looked around darkly. There was nothing wrong with the place, just a grassy field that seemed to stretch on forever; but there was a chill in the air, like nobody should be there. "What is this place?" Trout asked. Owl gazed out at the rolling hills. "The battle ground of the Forgotten War."
Ta-da! Owl's past is revealed... well, you guys are really lucky, because I was seriously thinking about ending this chapter on a cliff-hanger! Ok, I gotta go give myself a brain freeze and stare at a wall while thinking about fresh ideas for the next chapter! Also, if you think you know who "the lost boy seeking his sister's hand" is, send it in a review! Owl, you aren't allowed to say, or I will murder Blackjack so he can't keep telling his story! Oooh, I'm so evil... (::)!