I feel like there's about three major people who really like this story. I keep this going for them and also cause I really like writing this and have so many ideas. But those 3 ppl are the real MVP's. Love ya guys. Also love whoever else is reading this and gotten this far in the story, thank you. Don't worry there's a lot more to come. I'm thinking there's probably gunna be like 15 chapters or something. Also, I'm at over 400 views which is pretty damn good I'm stoked thanks guys damn. I had to rewrite like half of this because it didn't save I'm so upset. I suggest listening to I'll Fight by Daughtry and Who We Are by Imagine Dragons while reading this. BTW this is hella long. Sorry.
I walked into the Mess Hall and sat down. I looked at the plate and silently asked for some warm waffles with syrup on the top. I took a bite and smiled. It tasted amazing. I was digging into my waffles when I heard Annabeth clear her throat slightly. Everyone looked up at her expectantly. "So, I've been reading-"
"Shocker," Leo mumbled and I tried my best to suppress a smile.
Annabeth continued without acknowledging Leo, "And I found out where the coordinates are. It's this cave called the Cave of the Apocalypse. I'm going to go there with Percy and try to find the Athena Parthenos, or at least something that hints at it." Everyone nodded and I turned back to my waffles to continue eating but Annabeth continued. "While I was reading I came across something that might help us defeat Gaea. It's a torch that holds Greek Fire that is said to be burning since almost the beginning of time. I was thinking about the line from the prophecy 'To storm or fire the world must fall' and maybe the world, in this case, isn't the actual world, but Gaea." Everyone stared at her wide eyed and she smiled please that every was amazed by her revelation. She continued, "Well, if it is Gaea, then what better way to defat her than by a flame thats almost as ancient as her?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. "So, where's the torch?" Jason questioned.
"It's said to be at Olympia, the origin of the Olympics. So, I was thinking, while Percy and I go to the cave, you can go to Olympia," Annabeth said then she turned to look at me. "Do you know where that is?" she asked me.
I nodded with my mouth full of waffles. I quickly swallowed and spoke up. "Yeah, I've been there before but not for very long. Nobody there really gave any food to homeless people. The tourists tended to turn the other way and complain to anybody that worked there that we were 'ruining the experience,'" I mumbled ruling my eyes. I never did like tourists. They acted as if us being there was ruining their day when in reality we were the ones with ruined lives. "Anyways, yeah, I know where it is," I finished realizing I had accidentally rambled off a little.
"Great," Annabeth said looking back up at everyone else. "Now we just need about two more people to go with her."
"Frank and I will go," Hazel offered quickly. I smiled back at her thankful that she had volunteered before anyone I didn't really know, like Jason or even Piper, volunteered. Unfortunately, Frank was one of the people I didn't really know and Hazel had volunteered him. Frank seemed slightly annoyed that his girlfriend had volunteered him without asking. He shot me a glance that made it seem like he was mostly upset because I was going. I looked down at my waffle upsettingly, knowing he was upset because of me. Frank agreed reluctantly with Hazel.
"Perfect, we'll leave once we finish eating," Annabeth said taking her last couple bites of food. Her and Percy got up to leave. I took a bit of waffle knowing it could very well be one of my last meals, I prayed it wouldn't be. Once I finished I ran downstairs to grab my bow and sword. I hoped I wouldn't have to use my sword this time since it didn't end very well last time. I walked upstairs and found Hazel, Frank, Jason, and Piper talking on deck waiting for me.
They smiled at me and I waved back looking around for Leo who seemed nowhere in sight. "Where's Leo?" I blurted out. I didn't know why I asked it, I just knew I shouldn't have. I would just have to try and play it off as casual.
"Down in the engine room,' Jason said without a second thought. Piper, however, gave me a strange look and studied my face as if trying to read my mind. She finally shrugged it off and turned back to Jason.
"Are you ready?" Hazel asked me. I nodded. "Alright, we're heading off," she said to Jason and Piper.
"Okay, good luck!" Piper said enthusiastically and we walked off the ship. I couldn't help but be a little disappointed that Leo hadn't come up to say bye or wish us good luck. I mean, there was the possibility that I didn't make it back alive. I shook my head trying to get those negative thoughts out. I couldn't think like that.
We started walking along the cobbled roads when I stopped suddenly. A thought occurred to me and I mentally groaned. "How are we gunna get there? It's way to far to walk."
Hazel frowned. "Maybe we could take a bus?"
Frank shot me an annoyed look. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?" he asked me angrily.
"I didn't think about it! I found out about this whole idea the same time as you!" I shouted back.
Hazel stepped in between us urging us to break it up. "It's fine, relax, I'll try to call Arion and see if he can take us," she said. I gave her a quizzical look. "My horse," she answered. Oh, she meant the horse that she came riding in on that seemed faster than the speed of sound. Hazel put her fingers in her mouth and let out an ear piercing whistle. We waited for about a minute before we decided that he wasn't coming. Hazel looked up at us sheepishly. "He likes to come when he wants, I can't really make him come," she apologized.
I waved my hand dismissively. "It's fine, we'll just catch a bus," I said giving her a reassuring smile. "They run all around and come often. It'll be fine."
"Okay, but we don't have any money," Frank pointed out.
"Leave the money to me. You guys just head over to the nearest bus station and get in line to buy some tickets for Olympia," I said. They gave me a nervous look but nodded and started walking away. I walked over to a busy street and once I was pretty sure they were out of view I set to work. I casually slipped into the crowd and started walking slowly. I looked around for any easy targets. I laid my eyes on a woman talking on her cell phone holding big purse. I walked up behind her and quick pulled out a small, two pocket wallet. I pulled out a couple dollars and stuck it back in the purse before dodging away unseen. I felt bad for doing it but desperate times calls for desperate measures. I had done it before multiple times while living on the streets but only when it was necessary. Lately I had been trying to stay away from it and when I did pit pocket I only took what was necessary.
I walked over to the bus station hoping that Frank and Hazel wouldn't ask where the money came from. When I reached them they were the next in line. I quickly jumped in line with them and handed them the couple of dollars. Hazel took it in her hand and looked up at me curiously. "How did you get it?" She asked me cautiously.
I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "I, uhh, begged some people for it," I lied.
Hazel looked at me with big eyes. "You stole this!" she shouted at me.
"Shh! Not so loud! You're going to get us in trouble," I said in a whisper trying to hush her.
"I can't use this!" She shouted in a whisper.
Frank looked at her. He seemed a little reluctant to use the money too but spoke softly to Hazel, "It's the only choice we've got."
Hazel sighed. "I can't do this," she said sticking the money out. I heard the guy at the counter yell for the next person in line.
"Then I'll do it," I said quickly grabbing the money out of her hand and turning around to face the guy at the counter. I put on a smile and handed him the money. "Three tickets to Olympia please."
He took the money and ripped out a couple of tickets. "Next bus comes in five minutes. The stations a couple of blocks away, you might want to hurry," he said in a bored tone handing me the tickets.
"Thank you!" I shouted before quickly pulling Hazel and Frank out of the station and around the corner to the station. "Come on, we need to hurry if we want to make it," I said walking quickly to the bus station. We got there and had very little time to breathe before the bus appeared. We hopped on the bus, and took our seats. Hazel and Frank sat down on a bench and I sat down on the one behind. We talked for a while on what we planned to do when we got there until a young man sat down next to me and we had to stop talking before he started thinking that we were crazy. About 15 minutes later we reached our stop and got off the bus. We walked through the thick crowds of tourists until we reached the arc that served as the starting point for the original Olympics. It was nearly impossible, however, to get there because it was so packed by tourists taking pictures.
"Alright, let's start looking around," Hazel said walking to the brick wall. We headed across down the wall looking for any type of torch but we couldn't fine anything. We reached the main tunnel and when I looked down it I saw a tall young women staring at us.
"Uhh," I said looking over at Hazel.
"Hm?" She asked me absent mindidly.
I pointed through the tunnel and looked to see that the woman had vanished. "Um, never mind," I said quickly. It must have been my imagination. It was probably just some tourist or a worker that recognized me from before and was headed to call the police. I prayed it wasn't the latter. We continued walking around the perimeter trying to find anything we could. We walked for a while but we couldn't find any signs of a torch. I looked down the tunnel and again saw the lady. She had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and was wearing battle armor. It occurred to me that tourists usually don't walk around in armor. I grabbed Hazels arm, not taking my eyes away from the woman. She was starring back at me and it was as if we were having a staring contest. "Hazel. Hazel!" I hissed.
"What?" She asked looking at me. "What are you looking at?" She asked trying to follow my gaze.
I pointed slightly at the woman. "Her. I keep seeing her."
Hazel followed my finger to the woman. "Who is she?" She whispered.
"I don't know but I think we should talk to her, come on." I walked forward and Hazel quickly grabbed Frank and pulled him along. I slowly walked up to her, never breaking eye contact. She stared down at me as we walked up, she was taller than me, about Franks height. I walked up to her and just stared for a couple seconds trying to figure out what to say. I glanced at Hazel for help and the lady smiled triumphantly, I wasn't sure about what. Maybe we were having a staring contest. "Umm, hi," I said awkwardly.
The lady looked down on me upsettingly. "That is no way to address the Goddess of Victory!" She shouted getting ready to turn away.
Hazel and Frank looked shock and then quickly bowed down, "Lady Victoria, I am sorry, we did not recognize you," they said politely. Hazel quickly pulled me by the arm and forced me to do the same. I wasn't crazy about bowing down to somebody but I guess you do what you have to do.
"I am not Victoria!" she shouted angrily at us and we quickly stood up straight. "I am Nike, Goddess of Strength, Speed, and Victory! Do not mention my other self, it is hard enough to stay as one person without you trying to switch me over too!" I wasn't really sure what she was talking about but I went with it.
"I-I'm sorry Lorde Nike, please forgive us," Hazel basically pleaded. Nike nodded slightly and started to turn around.
"Wait! Nike- uh, Ma'am," I stuttered. How was I supposed to address her properly? I wasn't exactly taught this. She turned back to me and gave me a stare that could kill. I wasn't sure how I was still breathing. "Ma'am, please. I saw you standing there watching us. May I ask you why?" I asked hopefully. Was it okay to ask a Goddess what she was doing here?
Nike seemed slightly upset but let it go. "This is Olympia, this is the spot where the Olympics began, it holds the essence of victory itself. It is where I came to be widely known," she stated as if it where obvious. "I believe it is more appropriate to ask you what you are doing here."
"We came seeking for a torch that holds what is said to be the longest standing flame of Greek Fire. Do you know where we could find it?" Frank asked politely.
"Ah, the Torch of Victory. Yes, that is one of my main tools, I lit that fire myself, that's why it will never die out." She said proud of her accomplishments.
"Well, could you like give it to us? Or at least tell us where to find it?" I asked hopefully. Next to me Frank and Hazel glared at me for being so improper. I flinched involuntarily at the glare Nike was giving me too. Maybe I should work on my social skills a little.
"I am not going to simply give it to you," she spat angrily. "If you want the Torch of Victory then you must work for it and be victorious. After all, it can only be passed in Victory." She raised her golden tipped spear and looked down on us. "Are you up to the challenge?"
I looked at Frank and Hazel to be sure but they seemed to flustered to speak. "Uhh, yeah, sure I guess," I said looking back at her.
She seemed to grow taller in height and I wondered if we were supposed to fight her because if that was the case, we were royally screwed. She raised her spear up to the sky and I couldn't help but wonder if normal people could see what was happening. Nobody was screaming so I guess not. The golden wreath around her head shook and seemed to grow in length. I looked at her spear which had vines wrapping around it. Slowly the vines reached the floor and assembled into a small shape of a man, about half my height, made of leaves.
I looked at the vine man and couldn't help but laugh. "That's what we're fighting?" I asked still laughing. "But it's just a pile of leaves! It's kinda cute actually. I might take one as a pet." The leaf man seemed offended by my comment and thorns stood up out of its body ready to poke an eye out. "I'm guessing you don't like balloons very much," I noted looking at the spikes warily.
"Ha! Do you really think that you can defeat my minions so easily?" She asked in a challenge.
"Yeah, watch," I said pulling out my bow and arrow and knocking one at it. It hit the leaf man square in the face area and the creature let out a strange hiss before turning into a pile of gold dust. "See? Easy." I said smiling.
"Umm, Sarah, maybe you shouldn't anger her," Hazel said quietly to me, fear in her eyes.
I turned back to see what she was so afraid of. Nike's eyes were now shining gold. "Well if it was so easy then let's see how well you do against 100 of them," She smiled wickedly and vines started running down from her head and staff again making tons of leaf men. This time they seemed a little bigger and stronger. Their leaves were gold and their thorns were even longer and sharper than before. I let out a small whimper. Mark this as the last time I piss off and challenge a Greek God. Or any God for that matter.
We watched in horror as she made more and more. "You can stop anytime now," I said in a quiet whimper. We were so outnumbered it was ridiculous. Eventually she stopped making them and I looked out into a sea of golden leaves with incredibly sharp thorns. I was starting to wish that my bow was a weed waker.
Nike glared down at us, a hunger in her eyes. "Ready, set, GO!" She shouted and at the sound of 'Go' her leaf minions were charging at us. Me, Frank, and Hazel barely had time to get ready before they were right in front of us. Me and Frank quickly shot arrows at the leafs while Hazel swung her long sword whacking them in half before turning into a pile of gold dust. We were doing pretty good and had the first couple ranks down when I ran out of arrows. I groaned and pulled out my sword. When was I going to be able to stop using this thing? I wasn't the best at sword fighting and it took me longer to defeat the monsters with the sword than with my bow and arrows.
I chopped down a couple then looked up to see that there was still more than half of the army left. We were going to be here forever. I heard Frank curse and looked over to see that he had run out of arrows too. My eyes turned wide as I watched him turn into a rhino. How was that even possible? Damn, I wish I could turn into a rhino, or any animal for that matter. Hazel quickly climbed on top of Frank the rhino and he started off through the dangerous bushes. I quickly chopped some weed men down but there was too many of them. They started to close in on me backing me up against a wall.
I swung my sword at them wildly hoping for the best when Frank, who was still a rhino, came plowing through to where I was standing. He stomped on the men turning a couple to smushed leaves and a couple to dust. Hazel was using her sword to continue whacking them in half. I looked up. About half of them left. Frank had gotten rid of the ones around me and I rushed forward to help. We continued to swing and squash the leaf men. There was about thirty left when I saw them running away. "Hey, look! They're leaving! We won!" I shouted happily. Then I looked up and watched to see what they were doing. I had celebrated too early. The tiny leaf men were forming together, their vines twisting around each others to create one giant, thorny, leaf man. It stood about ten feet tall and six feet wide. Frank stopped next to me (still a rhino) with Hazel still on his back to see the giant wall of thorns and leaves.
I looked over at Frank who looked ready to charge and I prayed his horn was as sharp as their thorns. Frank bared his rhino horn and ran at the giant monster. He crashed into the belly of it and came back out whining a little. The giant swung its sharp arm at Frank. "Look out!" I shouted and frank managed to turn into a bird just in time for him and Hazel to fall out of the way. Frank flew down to me and changed back into a human.
"Keep Hazel back and away, what I'm about to do is dangerous," He said. I was about to protest that everything we were doing was dangerous but he ran away turning back into a rhino as he ran. I quickly grabbed Hazel's arm and pulled her back and away like Frank had told me to. Hazel shouted in protest. I watched as Frank continuously plowed into the leaves causing them to sake and fall back a little.
"We need to go help him out!" Hazel shouted trying to pull her arm away from my hand.
"No, I told Frank I would keep you back. We can't even touch the thing with out getting pricked," I told her as calmly as I could.
"We can't just leave him there to try and defeat it by himself!" she insisted. I watched and knew she was right. I looked around, desperate for an idea.
"Alright, fine. I'll go out and help him. You have to stay here, okay?" I said. Hazel looked upset but she nodded. I quickly ran out and grabbed a small torch. It wasn't the Torch of Victory. The fire was normal and nothing abut it radiated power. Still, it would have to do. I held the torch out in front of me and ran at the giant. I jumped over a vine that swung at me and slid between its legs. I stuck out my sword and slashed at its leg. I tried to light it on fire with the torch but I was too far away to get it to catch fire. I quickly jumped back up and dashed back around the monster. Another vine reached out to grab me and I chopped it away with my sword. Frank continued to ram it with his rhino horn.
I looked over to see Hazel gripping her sword getting ready to jump in. "Hazel, no!" I shouted trying to warn her to get back. The thing swung at me while I was preoccupied and hit my legs with a vine sending me sprawling to the ground. The torch fell out of my hand and rolled away. I cursed silently. The vine reached down and wrapped around my legs and brought me up into the air. I screamed in pain as the vines pricked me all over my legs. I frantically swung my sword and managed to cut the vine. I fell crashing to the floor on top of the vine. I got up and ran over to the torch. I looked up to see Hazel standing next to the monster gripping her long sword. The monster lashed out another vine at her. "Hazel, MOVE!" I shouted desperately running towards her but I was too late. It hit her squarely in the chest and she went flying back. The vine then wrapped around her and picked her off the ground. I jabbed my sword into the monster and it growled a little but didn't drop her.
I held the torch in my hand but I couldn't set it on fire until Hazel was safely to the ground. If I set it aflame while it was still holding Hazel then she would be burned too. I jumped around trying to get the monster to notice me. Maybe I could get it to drop Hazel if it was paying attention to me. "Hey! Mr. Plantman! Over here!" I shouted waving my arms around like an idiot. This was the stupidest plan I've ever had. The plant turned to look at me. "Come get me you overgrown weed!" I shouted. It threw a vine at me and I lunged out of the way. It swung another at me and I chopped it down with my sword.
I looked over to see Frank had turned into and eagle and was flying at the vine that was holding Hazel. I jumped over another vine. Frank flew up and cut the vine in half with his beak sending Hazel to the floor. I quickly threw the torch at the giant plant and ran over to try and catch Hazel. I watched as Frank desperately few down in hope to catch her but we were both too late. She fell to the ground landing on her leg and flipped to her side. I quickly ran up to her to make sure she was okay. I put my fingers to her neck. She had a pulse but she was unconscious. I tried my best to stop the bleeding from her stomach, back and chest. It wasn't anything crazy but she was still bleeding from a lot of different places.
Frank landed next to me and turned back into a human. "Hazel!" He shouted grabbing her from me and desperately trying to wake her up. Next to me I saw the weeds burn, completely submerged in flames. I thought that would kill it but it simply raised a giant, flaming fist, ready to slam it down on us. I did the only thing left to do, I just prayed it would work, otherwise we would be overcooked Demigods.
"Stop! We give up! We surrender!" I shouted throwing my hands up in defeat. The giant arm above us stopped and the weeds immediately fell to the floor and grew deep into the soil. Nike appeared next to us with a wide smile.
"Ha! I knew you wouldn't be able to defeat me or my minions. Be gone you puny demigods, you do not deserve the Torch of Victory." She said with a sneer and a wave of her hand. She quickly turned around and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. I turned back to Frank who was still holding Hazel in his arms.
"What do we do?" he asked quickly, worry in his eyes.
"Do you have any Ambrosia?" I asked him. He shook his head. I frowned trying to think of ideas. "We can't walk back to the ship, t's too far and we can't take her on a bus like that, they'll call the police. And if we called an ambulance then they'll take her to the hospital, they'll start asking questions, they'll want to see parents. We'd never get out of there. They would probably call the police on us too." I muttered thinking out loud. "Do you have any way to call thee others and get them to come over here?" I asked Frank.
He shook his head sadly holding Hazel to his chest trying to think of ideas. "I don't know what to do. We need to get Hazel back quickly-" he was cut off by a blur of brown and black streaking by us. It turned around and stopped next to us. It was Hazel's horse, Arion. Arion wined at the sight of Hazel. "Arion!" Frank shouted and the horse neighed and almost seemed to throw him a dirty look. Could horses do that? Could they give people bad looks? "Arion, please, help us. Take us back to the ship so we can heal Hazel." Arion stepped up to Frank hesitantly, unsure of him climbing on top of him. "Look, I need to ride you, Hazel can't ride you by yourself, she's unconscious. Just let me, this once. For Hazel," Frank pleaded to the horse.
"Why are you talking to him like he's a human and understands you?" I asked curiously. It seemed kinda weird to me.
"Because he is, I mean, he does. He understands us." Frank said looking at Arion helplessly. Arion reluctantly stepped up and allowed Frank on top of him. I walked up to hop up behind him but Frank held his hand up. "There's not enough room. He can't hold the weight of all of us."
I looked up at Frank unsure of what he was trying to say. "But, you'll come back and pick me up after you drop her off, right?" I asked.
"I can't. Arion doesn't let anyone other than Hazel ride him. Just doing this is pushing it. You'll have to find your way back by yourself," Frank said and with that they ran way in a streak of color leaving me behind in the dust.
"Okay. No problem. See you later," I said in a small voice to the dirt they had left behind. I sighed and grabbed my bow and sword and set off on the long walk ahead of me.