Ah! I know you were all just left on the edge of your chairs going "DAMN YOU ANOTHERFACELESSAUTHOR! DAMN YOU AND ALL THE CLIFFHANGERS IN THE WORLD!" *Insert you banging head on keyboard*
I know.
I'm mean.
But, yay! The actual PLOT begins this chapter! So, you guys cool if I make up my own minor god? Cuz he kinda sort of slightly makes an appearance here. Or would you guys rather have him be a monster? I guess it could work either way, what do you guys think. I guess it'd be hard for her to kill a god, so I might make it a monster actually.
Hmmmmz...
I'll think on it.
I think this chapter is really cute and action-filled and suspenseful.
In case the italics get confusing, first the italics are the voice she's hearing, then when her 'flashbacks' start (you'll understand when you read) the italics are used when someone in the 'time' she's not focused on is speaking. At first the normal world/time is NOT in italics, then later on it is because she's focusing on the 'flashback or vision'.
Ha!
VIRTUAL HUGS TO: Vivi007, AriaPhoenixFire, CaitieCait101, Blackrosesroit, The Avian-Olympian (twice, for both chapters 16 and 17), Meepmeep123, and Pandastyle
So many!
Guys, I'm like 4 reviews away from 50! COME ON GUYS!
Cuz I feel like the more reviews it says I have, the more people will be like 'Oh, this story has a lot of reviews, it must be good. I should read it!'
Anyhoo..
Replies:
Vivi007: It was nice hearing about your day. Though, why are you on a diet? I'm a swimmer and we eat like PIGS! Seriously, we had team dinner, and everyone had a FULL plate and several people took two plates. Be happy with who you are! And why da HELL did you wake up at 530? I reserve that time for when books come out that I must read before school begins. And I highly suggest you do homework more often. ;) I wish I could dance. My friends named this move of mine '(my name) on coffee' I'll let you assume why. WHY DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL AT 1:30? Dude, My school starts around 8 am! And, I know, as I said, I'm mean for cliffhanging you. MUWAHAHAHAHA!
CaitieCait101: Here you go! Updated the NEXT day (I'm pretty awesome like that ;) ) Love hearing from new people!
Blackrosesroit: You honestly think I would kill Zack? I would have all you guys trying to find out who the F*** I am so you could KILL ME! Just like Riordan with Percabeth (To a much smaller fanbase, cuz you know, I'm NO WHERE near Riordan). And thx! :)
The A-O: Hah! And yeah, WI is WI, theres a reason its never really mentioned except when its ripped on. Me and my friends wanna move to DC when we're older. And PSH! I know Zarter, I just was a little confused on 'Farter' but I gotchu! I enjoyed the Kane Chronicles, but IN NO WAY does it beat PJO or HoO.
The A-0 (again): Trust me, I feel ya with the cliffhangers. ;) But I do it anyways! MWUAHAHAHHA! Hmmm...Well, I'll tell you why I read it. Personally, I'm a very off and on person. I can go two months without PJO really coming to mind and then suddenly its like OMIGOD I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE! So to try to satisfy I'll re read the series, but that takes me like two days. And then I'm still like AH I NEED PERCABETH AND I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AND AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! So that's why I turn to Fanfction. Sure, it keeps PJO on my mind instead of flushing it out, but I can pretty much find 638460398693864 versions of the Mark of Athena and 8640328984658767545345687096 543 different Percabeth stories! So, yes, it keeps PJO on mind, but in the same, yet different way, it help quench it because I'm reading about my favorite characters. And if I don't like one authors PoV, then theres probably another in the way I like it. Or if theres a story with SHITTY GRAMMAR (Please, guys, PLEASE, don't write fanfiction unless you know how a comma and a paragraph works. Just...just PLEASE!), then there's probably someone with better grammar. IDK...Just my PoV.
Meepmeep123: AW! THANK YOU! XD XD XD
Pandastyle: Yeah, in my mind she did, and you can now see why. I mean, why did she love Percy so much? Because pPhrodite loved Percabeth. Why does she like Lena? Because she loves Zena. The characters may hate her, but we gotta love her for bringing these couples together (well, Zena is still developing). And first day? I relate. My first day was Tuesday. DUDE! I gotta tell you guys something stupid. Okay, sorry Pandastyle, this is your time. Anyway, ha, no, Zack did not try to bake cookies, though that suggestion made me smile. :) TO HELP QUENCH YOUR HUNGER, YOU ARE!
Thanks for reviewing! You guys don't understand how excited I get when my Ipod dings and I see [New Review]
:DDD times like 9843727309
Okay, so, my Swim coach is just...crazy. Yesterday she ALREADY GAVE US A GRADECHECK SHEET! For those of you who may not have these, its where we have to go around for sports and get our teachers to sign these sheets saying we're passing so we can continue to participate in sports. 'Because we're STUDENT athletes. STUDENTS comes first.' *rolls eyes* Half of my teachers were like: "Dafuq? Why the HELLZ do you have a Grade check already?"
ME: "Yeah, my coach is crazy. We've learned not to ask questions."
Anyhoo, also, today during homeroom I was doing my math homework and I'm like 'YAY! First homework will be easy!' Then I look at the FIRST problem and I'm like: "SHIT! I'M CONFUSED ALREADY!"
Sorry, this is a long Authors note and I'm not done.
I wanna warn that next chapter will pretty much just be this chapter in Zack's PoV, but I'm really excited for it. Though, I probs won't post tonight and tomorrow I have a meet so it'll be later tomorrow but then IT'S THE WEEKEND! AND I HAVE A VERY LITTLE SOCIAL LIFE SO A LOT OF IT WILL BE SPENT WRITING!
Seriously guys, ALL of my free time has been dedicated to writing. I STILL haven't watched that recorded episode of Leverage, and I've barely READ any Fanfiction cuz I'm too busy WRITING it!
Oh well, as long as I have AMAZING reviewers I don't care! :DDD
Song lyrics! I think I'm gonna put entire song cuz it's so cute and so perfect for 'Zena'
Fall to Pieces by Avril Lavigne (her first two albums are SO her best):
I looked away
Then I look back at you
You try to say
The things that you can't undo
If I had my way
I'd never get over you
Today's the day
I pray that we make it through
Make it through the fall
Make it through it all
[Chorus:]
And I don't wanna fall to pieces
I just want to sit and stare at you
I don't want to talk about it
And I don't want a conversation
I just want to cry in front of you
I don't want to talk about it
Cuz I'm in Love With you
You're the only one,
I'd be with till the end
When I come undone
You bring me back again
Back under the stars
Back into your arms
[Chorus]
Wanna know who you are
Wanna know where to start
I wanna know what this means
Wanna know how you feel
Wanna know what is real
I wanna know everything, everything
[Chorus without last line]
[Chorus]
I'm in love with you
Cuz i'm in love with you
I'm in love with you
I'm in love with you
Sorry, this was a CRAZY long A/N. Some of you were probs like 'YAY! LONG CHAPTER!' and then realized it half of it was me babbling away.
I apoligize.
You may read now.
Wait...
Disclaimer: Redundant much?
Song: No Ipod playing
NOW!
READ ON!
I sprinted out of my car. A crowd had gathered around his building. The smoke could be seen from miles around, probably the entire city.
I pushed my way through the crowd, earning myself glares, shouts, and crude names. I found the nearest firefighter.
"What happened?" I demanded.
"Miss, just calm down."
"My friend lives up there!" I shouted. "Tell me what happened!"
He sighed. "Neighbors heard commotion and just a few minutes later a fire broke out rapidly. The fire department is working their way up now."
A commotion.
To a mortal, that could mean one of many things.
To a demigod, it meant a monster.
I ran away from that firefighter and went to the next one. I tried to push past but he held me back.
"Woah, girl. No one gets near the building."
I snapped my fingers and felt the ominous breeze. "I work with you!" I shouted, knowing it was far-fetched, but necessity and desperation were on my side. "Let me through!"
I wasn't sure if it'd work, but his eyes kinda glazed over for a second. That's all I needed. I sprinted into the building.
Immediately I smelled the smoke. I held my shirt up to my nose, trying to withhold the flashbacks.
I wasn't stupid, I knew the elevators were dangerous, so I ran to the staircase.
Now, I'm in the best shape possible, but I'd like to see even an Olympic athlete run up forty-five flights of stairs without getting winded.
Firemen were standing by the door, ramming up against it, trying to get in, something not letting them.
"Move away!" I shouted.
"The hell are you?" One demanded.
"The girl who can fire your ass!"
"I'm a volunteer firefighter."
Shit. "You wanna stay one? Beat it!" I snapped my fingers again. "Leave, I got this covered. Who's in there anyways?"
"Just a kid," a fireman with glazed eyes answered. "Mom's out."
I nodded, glad. "Beat it punks, this is my gig."
I then stormed past them, kicking my foot out, breaking it from it's hinges. With one last *snap* I spoke before walking right into the fire, "No one comes in here. The door is still closed."
I ran into the fire, or rather, the smoke. I was coughing and felt like vomiting at this point. "Zack?!" I croaked.
I heard a huge BANG and ran in that direction, finally spotting Zack fighting what looked like a lion with a snake sticking out of its butt.
A Chimera.
Awesome.
I pulled out my fathers pen and uncapped it. That's when I first heard the voice:
You have bigger issues to worry about.
I frowned, randomly swinging my sword behind me, searching for the origin of the voice, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. Seeing nothing, I started toward Zack.
If you think monsters like that are your biggest worries, you are extremely mistaken.
"Where are you?" I shouted out loud. I thought I heard Zack shout my name, but I wasn't sure.
Zeus and his council of gods aren't even your biggest problem.
"What do you mean?" I demanded.
Monsters are turning on the gods who once controlled them, and the Western Civilization is deteriorating without anyone's knowledge. Zeus and his council have just taken notice, though it's been happening for days.
I was looking around frantically while swinging my sword for no purpose. I think Zack shouted my name again.
They say that you are the only one strong enough to stop me.
I felt a strong shiver run down my spine, as if someone had thrown ice down my shirt. I froze as a migraine was added to the mix.
We'll see about that. Your own greatest liability, resides inside your mind, inside your past. Unfortunately for you, nothing in the past is hidden from me.
My vision started going weird. My sword fell to my side as I wobbled. The fire and room around me seemed to be tipping, altering, changing.
Briefly the wood floors looked like concrete and above me I saw only a dark sky instead of a ceiling. Then back to Zack's fight with the Chimera. Then I saw a different fight, with two people fighting a different monster. It kept flashing back and forth. Suddenly, it was beginning to tell which was real, and which was fake.
I heard my name twice.
"Lena!" shouted a young male's voice.
"Silena, stay back!" Shouted an older female's voice.
I frowned, I recognized the voice, the female one. The male one too, but the female voice caught my attention more.
I focused on the image with concrete floor and open sky. Two characters were fighting a nasty battle. There was a male and a female. The male with black hair, and the female with blond.
"Lena!" I vaguely heard.
I saw the monster attack in the alley, at the same time I saw Zack dodge a breath of the Chimera's fire.
Then I saw the man jump in front of the woman.
"Annabeth!"
"Percy, NO!"
"Lena!" Someone was calling my name, I suddenly couldn't remember who.
The man was stabbed in the stomach. The woman bent over in pain that seemed purely emotional.
"PERCY!" The shriek that came from the woman's voice was awful. Filled with a sadness no one should ever experience. It was a high-pitched and raw scream, that let you know, the person whom the shout originated from had just lost everything.
"Dad!" I found myself shouting, sounding almost as sad as the woman.
"Silena! Silena, stay back!" The last part was choked, you could tell the woman was sobbing, though she was trying desperately to be strong.
"Lena! Lena, you gotta come back!" The voice was alluring, but I was entranced by the couple before me. I thought I felt something on my face, but I looked around the alley and saw no one but me and the couple.
The blond woman began fighting the monster. She had stabbed it just as the monster had stabbed her directly in the heart.
"MOM!" I screamed. "Mom! Dad!"
I'm pretty sure I felt the world below me move, but I figured I was just so disoriented from what I had just witnessed.
"Come on, Lena. We gotta get out of here FAST!"
I ran to the bodies.
"Lena, PLEASE!"
I blinked. Someone was calling to me. Someone I cared about. Deeply.
I finally recalled who.
Zack.
I closed my eyes and opened them to find the blurry image of Zack. I had just realized he was carrying me, bridal style, while running, right before he jumped off the terrace.
I admit.
I screamed.
"Hold on, Len's!" he shouted, though he hadn't needed to. I had thrown my arms around his neck while burying my face into it's crook. I was clutching to him for dear life as we fell immensely fast.
Then suddenly...
We weren't.
"You okay Lena?"
I didn't dare move my head from his neck. Through the smell of smoke, I distinctly smelled lemons. It smelled nice. I focused on that as I shook my head slowly in his neck to tell him that: No, in fact, I was not in the slightest way okay.
He just took a deep breathe. "Okay, this descent is gonna get a little bumpy, but I won't let you fall. Okay, Lena?"
Slowly I nodded my head.
"Alright. Here comes the first drop."
Sure enough, we fell. It had to be at least four stories that we fell, but swiftly enough, we stopped again.
"See, that wasn't so bad."
"Stupid son of Zeus." I muttered, knowing if Zeus didn't know I was in town, and hanging around his kid to make matters worse, he did now. Although, being with Zack was probably the only thing keeping me from being electrocuted by lightning.
Or, you know, falling to the ground.
Zack just chuckled. "Alright, we're gonna take it one drop at a time."
He dropped again. I clutched harder, feeling my entire body shaking worse than it ever had. n response, Zack held me tighter and closer.
We kept dropping, but each time it would just be a few flights and Zack would warn me. I didn't know what the mortals saw, but I didn't hear any huge shouts of 'Hey look! That kids flying! Let's put him in a zoo!'
"Last one," he told me after an eternity. Seconds later, I felt solid ground hit Zack's feet.
"Okay, Len's," he said. "We're down."
I picked my head up from his neck. He was looking down at me, his eyes full of concern. I felt my face flush as I looked away, reluctantly untangling myself.
"Thanks," I said quietly. "I guess I suck at rescue missions, huh?"
"It's okay, Lena," he told me. Of course it was okay with him. Everything was okay with him.
"What...I mean, what exactly happened back there."
I tucked hair behind my ears. "I'm not good with fires," I said honestly. "Or heights," I added.
He just smiled and at first I thought he was laughing at me. "You killed your first monster at the age of seven, and yet your biggest fears our fires and heights?"
"There's perfectly good reasons I'm not good with fires or heights. We'll talk about it later." I snapped. "Right now, we need to go. There's no way that scene went unnoticed by your father."
"Yeah, that's something I found odd. The Chimera works for Echidna who works for my father, yet it attacked me, a son of Zeus."
I remembered the Voice's words:
'Monsters are turning on the gods who once controlled them, and the Western Civilization is deteriorating without anyone's knowledge. Zeus and his council have just taken notice, though it's been happening for days.'
"We'll talk later. We REALLY need to go. Can you leave right now?"
He shrugged. "I got my weapon, but I don't have clothes or anything."
"I have money," I said curtly. "We can get you clothes."
He nodded. "Okay. Where to?"
"Right now? My goal is far away."
The entire time we ran to the car, I just kept replaying what I had seen in the fire.
I had just re-witnesses my parents death.