Okay, people. I know it's been forever since I posted, and I'm very sorry. The quest is going to be assigned in the next chapter or two. But, I finally got this one up. I really like Mary-Ann, so I don't know why it took me so long to get this written. And we meet Pollux. Tell me what you think of my portrayal of him. Thanks!
Mary-Ann: My Brother Mistakes Me for His Brother
"It is important that you remain absolutely silent when possible on a quest when you think a monster may be stalking you," Hermione told us when she took us out on our miniquest.
"That I can do," Mercy said with a nod.
"Of course you can," Braxton said rather bitterly. It was very obvious that he did not like her. Mostly, I'm pretty sure she felt the same. "You're the child of the god of thieves." He turned to Hermione. "Wouldn't it be better for us to communicate to one another."
"That's another thing," Hermione said. "You need to know your partners' weaknesses and strengths inside and out, so you can know what needs to be done with every enemy you encounter. Say you encounter a Hellhound, Mary-Ann, what would you do?"
"Hide somewhere behind Dawn until she destroys it," I answered, holding the dagger Dawn had given me tightly with both hands. Troy, Mercy, and Hermione all chuckled, while Dawn and Braxton both just turned to stare at me.
"Okay, truthful," Hermione nodded. "I like that. Troy?"
"Get to the side and distract it from the better fighters," Troy said. "Dawn, Mercy, or Braxton would all serve better at killing it if they could get a head up on attacking it."
"Good," Hermione said. She turned to Mercy, who was standing next to me. "Mercy?"
"Try to disable its legs with my throwing knives as someone else goes in for the kill," Mercy said. "Disabling two legs will almost certainly destroy its ability to attack successfully or escape. An easy target." It almost sounded to me like she had done this before.
"Very good," Hermione nodded. "But its still not an easy target, just easier. How about you, Braxton?"
"Well, Troy's distracting it, Mercy's disabling it from a distance, and Mary-Ann's hiding," Braxton said. I blushed a bit at his comment about me hiding. "And I've got a dagger against a huge canine that can bite me in half. Dawn would probably act before me to kill it with either her whip or an arrow. So, I scan the area for other enemies."
I hadn't even thought about the fact that other monsters could be in an area with one already, and I didn't even know what this 'Hellhound' was, which put me at even more of a disadvantage.
"But you're careful to keep the beast in your line of vision, right?" Hermione asked him, lifting an eyebrow. "Because you take your attention off it for one second, and it will bite you in half. Okay, Dawn?"
"I guess I'm killing it," Dawn said. She had a quiver full of arrows, her bow in her hand, and her whip, which I knew was currently disguised as her belt.
"I'm glad you all know exactly what you would do," Hermione said. "Because one is heading this way." And then she practically disappeared before our eyes.
We all jumped to alert, having no idea where it was coming from. I stuck close to Dawn, having full confidence that she wouldn't allow anything to happen to me... or at least Hermione wouldn't let anything happen to her if the Hellhound did get close enough for a kill.
"There," I heard Mercy say, and turned to see where she was pointing. I saw nothing in the tall grass, and any movement could easily be explained by the slight breeze.
"No, there," Dawn said, motioning about 120 degrees west of where Mercy had pointed. I still saw nothing.
"You're both wrong," Braxton said. His eyes were locked on a spot facing away from where Mercy and Dawn had spotted Hellhounds. My eyes still couldn't detect anything that was dangerous.
Troy looked where each had spotted a Hellhound, then audibly gulped. He apparently saw what I couldn't. "All three of you are right," he said. "There are three closing in on us."
Dawn drew an arrow and shot so fast, I didn't really realize she was drawing until I heard it hit something, and a howl. And then I saw what the others were seeing, as all three giant canines pounced from their hiding spots and ran in on an attack. The one Dawn had shot at had an arrow sticking out of his leg, but was still on top of us within a second.
"Down," Braxton yelled, grabbing me by the waist and diving to the ground. I noticed all three others dove as well, and out of the way. Two of the Hellhounds collided, heads into one another.
I heard a whizzing sound, followed by a crunch, and was suddenly showered with gold monster dust. A knife dropped down, landing next to my head.
"Stay behind me, Mary-Ann," Braxton said. I hadn't noticed him even stand, but he stood between me and the Hellhounds, his dagger out. Mercy and Troy were gaging one while Dawn was tangling with the other one left over.
I stood behind Braxton, trying to keep my eyes on both fights at once. That was until a warm breeze blew my hair and back of my neck... only it wasn't a breeze because it smelled of rotting flesh. I knew instinctively that it was a Hellhound. I gripped the dagger I had and spun around, stabbing.
It wasn't until I had already stabbed that I realized that this Hellhound was about the size of the other three combined. The dagger, completely impaled into its nose, probably was merely an annoyance. The bit of gold dust in the breeze told me that one of the other Hellhounds had been destroyed.
The one I had just stabbed growled and barked. The bark alone threw me back, colliding with Braxton, causing him to drop his dagger. Dawn grabbed her belt, but another two barks as the dog advanced threw her down and she dropped both her bow and the whip.
"It's herding us," Troy said. "Trying to get us into a small area to kill us all at once. Stay a little spread out."
"Easy for you to say," I said. "You've still got a sword."
Dawn grabbed the whip and snapped it a few times, hitting the canine from Hades, but not causing any real damage. And then it charged.
Dawn dove one way, but the dog grabbed the whip in its mouth, pulling it from her hands. It turned, and headed at me. I did the only thing I could think to do, and that was curl up into a ball. However, a crack emitted through the air a second time, and then a third. When I opened my eyes, I was being showered in gold canine dust.
"Dawn, I knew I could count on you," I said, turning to my best friend. However, she was staring to the side of me... and not holding the whip. I turned to see Braxton had it in his hands. He looked just as surprised as Dawn.
"You know how to use a whip?" Mercy asked, hands on her hips. There was a deep cut on her left arm.
"Um... I guess I do," Braxton said.
"Well, nice to know you have some talent with some sort of weapon," Mercy said. "If I had known we'd be attacked by Hellhounds without Hermione... hey, where is she anyway?"
Dawn suddenly became panicked. "Mom! Where are you?"
"Something tells me she abandoned us," Braxton said.
"My mother did not abandon us!" Dawn yelled loudly at Braxton. "She's just distracted by something else..." She looked a little uncertain.
"Yeah, like finding more monsters to try to kill us," Braxton said.
"Hey!" Mercy broke up the fight that was about to happen. "There she is!" She pointed to the west, from where Hermione was approaching and fast. By now, I was only slightly shocked by the speed at which she moved, as she was easily going thirty miles an hour. Granted, at the time, the adrenaline from the battle was still coursing through my veins and my mind wasn't able to process any more shocks for the moment.
"Very good work, you four," Hermione said, a smile on her face. Apparently I didn't warrant a recognition. I noticed that her smile seemed more like a mischievous smirk than anything else. Either the others didn't notice it, or they just felt it was normal because no one regarded her quite the way I was. Not that she noticed how I regarded her as Braxton immediately began yelling at her.
"What in Tarturus were you thinking?" he yelled. "We could have easily been killed. "Three mid-sized Hellhounds is dangerous enough, but a mother? You put your own daughter's life in danger, not to mention four others."
"Calm down, Mr. Masters," Hermione said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I wouldn't have allowed any of you to be killed." She reached into a large pocket at the knee of her pants and pulled out a small tupperware box. She opened it and pulled out a square that looked like a golden brownie. She broke off a piece and handed it to Mercy. "That'll have you healed in no time," she said as Mercy took the golden brownie, and ate it.
"Thanks," Mercy said after chewing and swallowing. She then licked her lips. "I definitely needed that. Glad it was a claw and not a tooth that did that." She looked at the gash in her arm, and I then noticed that it was healing.
"Ambrosia," Troy explained to me as I just stared on. "Food of the gods. Has healing properties, but beware. Eating too much can burn away your humanity and kill you. It's highly deadly to mortals."
"Anyone else hurt?" Hermione asked. No one spoke. "Okay then, we should return to camp."
"That was it?" Dawn asked, disappointed. "I thought we'd at least leave Long Island."
"It's very dangerous out there, Dawn baby," Hermione said, her sad blue eyes looking at her daughter. She placed a hand on Dawn's shoulder. "I'll take you on an adventure, I promise. Just, after we get settled in this new life."
Dawn sighed and nodded, leaning her head against Hermione's arm.
Gossip and whispers followed me when we got back to camp. Another kid had arrived while we were gone, and I hoped that maybe his arrival would draw attention away from me, but instead it had the opposite effect.
"You must be my sister that everyone has been talking about," a voice said from the shadow of the far side of Cabin Twelve when I walked in. I was tired and sweaty and had every intention of taking a shower until I heard that voice and froze. I couldn't see who was talking to me, but his voice was low and I noted a subtle depression, probably because it was the same sadness that my grandparents always spoke with. A sadness that would never go away, but wouldn't necessarily be detected usually.
He stood up, a shadow at first, but then stepped into some light. He was older than I had expected, as I had thought he'd be in his mid teens, but he looked to be about twenty or so. He looked a bit like Mr. D, with a rounded face, but something that seemed to be i the midst of sharpening as he aged. His eyes were dark, as well, a violet color that would have been gorgeous on a girl, but didn't exactly suit him. In fact, the only thing about him that reminded me of anything about myself was the fact that his hair, while blonde, was curly, though I couldn't be sure how curly it was as it was only about two to three inches long at any point.
"You're a small one," he said coming up to me and bending down to my height. "Delicate." He then stood up, towering over me, and ruffled my hair a bit. "Take care of yourself, will you?"
I nodded, not exactly sure what to say to a brother I had never met before.
"Anyway," he took a seat on the bed next to mine and indicated for me to sit on my own. "I'm Pollux, by the way. I hear you're called Mary-Ann?"
I just nodded. My tongue seemed to have stopped working for some reason, which, of course, wasn't the first time it had happened.
"Where are you from then, Mary?"
"It's, uh, Mary-Ann," I said, quietly. "That's what I prefer..."
Pollux smiled, which really lit up his face in a different way. He seemed to have gotten just a bit younger. "Castor just to say that," Pollux said. "I mean, he didn't prefer to be called Mary-Ann, obviously, but people would call him things like Cass, and he'd immediately say what you just said."
I nodded, like I understood what he was talking about. But, really, I had no idea. "So, um, who is Castor?" I tried to wrack my brains for who Castor might have been in Greek mythology. I know that Castor and Pollux rang a bell, but I hadn't memorized the entire mythology. As well, my mind kept skipping to Casper. I assumed that Castor wasn't a friendly ghost.
"Our brother," Pollux said, though all the energy was gone from him. He slumped a little on the bed he was on. "Or, he was our brother. He died a few years ago..."
"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry," I said. I knew that I should have grieved a bit more, after all, it was my brother, but I had never met him.
Pollux turned to look at me. "You remind me of him a little," Pollux said. "A bit awkward, and... did you know you were covered in dirt? What happened. What hot shot ass decided to kick you around when you're so new here?"
"Wha... no!" I said, shaking my head vigorously. "Miss Hermione took me and a few others out to hunt monsters and we ran into some giant dogs that had breath that smelled of rotting flesh." My cheeks flamed red. "I just wasn't any good at fighting it."
"The new counselor took you out to fight Hellhounds without giving you proper weapons training first?" Pollux asked. "What the Hades was she thinking. I could have lost you. Damnit, I can't lose you again!"
I stared at him. "Again?"
Pollux's eyes widened a bit as he suddenly realized his mistake. "I, uh, that wasn't what I meant..."
"Did you just mistake me as Casper... I mean Castor?" I asked. I was slowly remembering the myth of Castor and Pollux. They were the Gemini twins from the Zodiac. One was a demigod and one wasn't. The mortal had died, and just like this time, Castor had died while Pollux lived.
"I, it's not like that," Pollux said. "I just, miss him so much..."
"I have to go," I said. I was backing toward the door. I had to talk to Dawn... or someone. Even Troy or Braxton or even Mercy, before I could really talk to Pollux again. "I will see you at dinner, probably." And then I spun and smacked directly into the doorframe. I immediately knew I had broken my nose.