Logan:
After seeing Christina in a terrible state, I wasn't quite sure if she could make it and if we could get anymore bad luck. But of course, I never know how wrong I am. After walking a mile, I was like literally carrying carrying her. We walked another mile and I was surprised that she was even alive. I was figuring after almost an hour of walking, she would have passed out from exhaustion or pain.
We continued to walk and Christina was beginning to again but after a while, we met our doom. Christina stopped abruptly, having to have sensed something but she dropped to her knees. Her silver bow appeared in her hands and her arrows materialized on her back, using the bow as support, she put it in vertical position, sticking the bottom in the ground a bit. She drew an arrow and pulled back, wincing. All my friends readied their weapons. In front of us, there was a clattering sound. Christina retreated the string to it's original position with the arrow still notched as a skeleton with leathery gray skin walked towards us, holding a gun. A dozen more appeared on all sides. Christina let her bow fall weakly to one side and she drew her knives somehow. I tried not to cringe when I saw them because they were pretty wicked if you looked at them closely.
"Christina, what do you do when creepy skeletons attack with guns?" I asked her quietly. I mean, I knew she was in no shape to fight but she would argue with me and would win. Besides, even if I won against her by saying she couldn't fight, she would go against my word and insticntively do so anyways.
"I really don't have an idea. Only thing I know about these guns is that they can harm us too. In fact, any mortal weapon can harm us. We're twice as vulnerable," she murmured, managing to get to her feet.
"Nice to know when we have some pointed at us. Next time, give an earlier heads-up," I grumbled.
"Oh shut up. It's not like I can predict what's going to happen in the future," she answered. I gave her a sideways glance. One of the skeletons warriors stepped up to Christina and she slashed her knife through it body. It crumbled into a pile of bones but just as quickly, the bones began to knit themselves back together again.
"Great," I muttered. "Now what do we do with skeletons that can't be destroyed?" Christina didn't answer me. Instead she stabbed the skeleton in the chest and it went up in flames.
"All right then. I take back what I just said." That's when things turned from bad to worse. The skeletons loaded their guns. Christina let loose the Morph Sphere and chanted.
"Serve me as solid. Split to the five that are present." The Morph Sphere split into six pieces and five of them sped to each of us, surrounding us until we were each incased inside a blue ball. The skeletons fired but nothing harmed us. After that, we all came to the same conclusion that we could attack even if our weapons were inside our bubble. That's when we attacked.
I slashed the arm off of one and then stabbed it in the chest. But it didn't go up in flames. Once it had reunited back together, I attacked again and cut off its stupid head. It turned to dust. I whirled around as another chattered aimlessly at me.
"Come and get some Dry Bones!" I yelled. It opened fired and I deflected it off my sword. Then I stabbed it in the ribcage and it turned to dust. That's when Alec's bubble hit mine. I went rolling and crushed a skeleton that had ran at me. Sweet, I thought to myself. I pushed my hands to the sides of the spear and pushed down on the bubble with my feet so I looked like an X inside my bubbled. I rolled around, squishing skeletons. It seemed that Christina had had the same idea but she was struggling to stay in an X due to her state. Once we all had destroyed the skeletons, Christina said, "Your work is done. Return as pearl and serve as nothing more until thee is summoned."
Our blue bubbles shrunk and turned into a piece. Five pieces rushed to Christina who held up her piece of hers. The pieces connected and with a bright blue flash, it was back in its form. We stared at her in amazement.
"Where did you learn to use that kind of power of the Morph Sphere?" I asked in astonishment.
"I don't know. The words just came to mind," she answered honestly.
"Do you think it was Poseidon and Athena helping?" I said timidly.
"Maybe." She looked behind me and hers eyes widened. I spun around to see what she was staring at and we saw at least half a dozen of skeletons wearing redcoats and holding swords.
"How many do we have to fight?" I growled angrily.
The skeletons charged but in front of me appeared a shine of light. It began to get brighter and brighter and Christina shouted, "Avert your eyes!" We did and a brilliant flash happened. When we had opened our eyes, the skeletons had disintegrated and a guy stood in front of us. He looked about twenty five with salt and peppery hair. He had a helmet on and shoes that had little wings that fluttered restlessly. In his hand, he held something that looked very familiar. With a shock, I realized it was a caduceus with two twin snakes. The caduceus was the sign that was above Cabin 11 at camp. It was the sign of the messenger. In front of stood the messenger of the gods, Lord Hermes himself.
"Lord Hermes," Christina said, bowing and we followed her example. "This is a rare honor to see you."
"Hello Christina. I see you're on another quest and you have your sister with you. I can also see that you've found three new demigods." Then he looked at me. "Ah, this must be Logan Moore," he mused. "Nice to meet you."
"Lord Hermes, may I ask what you're doing here," Lillian said. "I thought gods weren't allowed to interfere with us mortals."
"Well you see, I can help demigods out a bit every what…five years or so? Anyways, I came to help you along your way faster. The thing is, your mom, Christina, told you that Alethia might be in San Francisco, The Bay Area or Los Angeles. Well she happens to be in Los Angeles," Hermes informed. Christian paled in the face even more despite the fact she was already as pale as can be. She winced, clutching her arm. The pain was so bad, that she crouched down and stayed there even after the fiery pain was gone.
"Oh no. Not there again," she managed to reply nervously.
"Yes I know you hate that place but that's the only place she's being kept. Anyhow, you're supposed to make a stop before you go to Los Angeles."
"Where are we suppose to stop at?" Christina asked suspiciously.
"At Oceanside," Hermes said slyly. "To have a little talk with, ah, you-know-who. They wanted to talk to you and Lillian." Christina locked eyes with Lillian, both of their faces full of hate.
"Well I don't want to talk to them and neither does Lillian," Christina growled, trying to control her anger.
"Who?" I inquired mystified.
"Well, they want to because they have some things for you also," Hermes answered. "And if you ask how do I know them, he somehow managed to summon me. Surprisingly, he can see through the Mist."
"Yeah well, I'm not going to Oceanside," she replied firmly. I looked at Christina and saw how tired she was. The gash from the Keres was sapping her strength. I wasn't quite sure if we could make it all the way to Oceanside. Then an idea came to mind. What had Christina said about the gash being healed? What kind of healing, I had asked. A god's power. Or else I will slowly die of infection, Christina had said. Hermes was a god, maybe he could.
"Lord Hermes," I cut in. "Can I ask a favor of you?" He looked at me.
"Yes Logan Moore."
"In order for Christina to make it to Oceanside, she needs to be healed. You see, about an hour ago, we were fighting the Keres and she was scratched by one. And the Keres are the battlefield spirits of pestilence and diseases. So if you're scratched by one, you need a gods healing power. So I was hoping you could heal her. After all, she is my sister and we need her," I explained.
"Logan, don't. For a favor like that, it would be a great cost to pay," Christina told me, wincing a bit. Hermes looked over at Christina's arm and noticed the wound for the first time which was hard to understand. I mean, she basically had doubled over after he arrived. He studied it and turned back to me.
"You say the Keres attacked you and she was injured by one of the daimones?"
I nodded.
"Logan, please," Christina pleaded. "He's going to ask for us to a favor for him which could be a great cost." Hermes turned back to Christina.
"If I heal you, will you go to Oceanside? You said you wouldn't go there. I know you don't want to talk to them but they need to talk to you and your sister. This is my deal," Hermes offered. Christina thought about it. She locked eyes with me and I nodded.
"Then so be it," she said miserably. She held out her arm and I wanted to faint. I hadn't looked at the wound at all while we had been walking. It had swelled and now was festering and a sickly shade of green. In some places near the cuts, there were shades that looked almost black. Hermes gripped her arm lightly and she winced, her face tight with pain. Slowly, the cut began to close up, and the swelling reduced. The color of her skin returned and Christina breathed out deeply with relief.
"Thank you Lord Hermes," Christina said.
"No problem. Now I have one last thing for you. So you can to Oceanside faster, I'm going to send you there by giving you these." Hermes snapped his fingers and in seven pairs of shoes appeared at our feet. Winged shoes.
"Put these on and you'll be on your way. There is two ways to use. I'm sure Christina will tell you. She's used these before," Hermes announced. "Now that you have a new lead, I must get going. Goodbye all of you. I will hopefully see you with Alethia on Mount Olympus." Hermes began to glow and we averted our eyes as he assumed his true form. Once he was gone, Christina looked down at the winged shoes.
"I have a bad feeling about this," she confessed, picking them up. Christina switched her black and blue Vans for the winged shoes. Once all my friends and her had laced up our shoes, Christina began to explain.
"Like Hermes said, there are two ways. One way is fly and the other way is running fast. But there are certain words for them. You can't say them in English. They only respond to Greek. The word for fly is 'mýga' and the word for fast is 'grígora'. However, even those words can be dangerous. Pronounce the words wrong or not say those words clearly can cause problems with the shoes. They can go disarray which is bad. Another thing about these shoes is when you're in the air, you can't say 'grígora' because 'grígora' is meant for the ground. When you're on the ground and you want to travel fast, say 'grígora' and you'll start running fast, faster than your average speed. So now that you know the dangers, be careful," she warned. A/N: My Greek Translation at the bottom.
"Can we practice a bit?" Alec asked, nervously shuffling his feet. Christina nodded.
"Ok good. Mýga!" Alec practiced. His feet lifted off the ground and he was floating in midair. He leaned forward and he went forward a bit.
"Amazing! Wait, do we have to concentrate on trying to keep us in the air or can we think freely?" Alec questioned.
"You can think freely," Christina said smoothly. "Mýga!" Then she too was floating. She flew around.
"Ha! Watch this!" she called. She came to a stop and sat cross-legged.
"I think I'm going to start with the grígora first," I announced. I said the word as clearly as I could. My wings began to flap really fast. I burst into a run, running faster than I had ever done. It was amazing. Acacia had decided to do the exact thing. Lillian and Kyra were soon floating in midair. After a good five minutes of practicing, Christina told us we should be going.
"Anyone up for running instead of flying?" she asked. We all raised our hands.
"Then let's go."
We reached Oceanside by six. We switched back into our regular shoes and walked around the city. Christina, seemed to be heading for the beach because as we traveled farther into the city, I could begin to smell a faint smell of ocean breeze.
"Christina. What are you and Lillian looking for?" I asked.
"We're looking for 353 Justina Drive, Oceanside." She took a right, walk straight for a bit and then took a right, heading on to a court.
"Here we are," she said bitterly. "353 Justina Drive." In front of us was a beautiful house. We walked up to the door and Lillian knocked. The door swung open and there standing was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes and a Mexican woman with a deep tan. The man squinted and then his eyes widened.
"Lillian?" the man said. Then he noticed us. He took one look at Christina but the look was loathing.
"Hi dad," Lillian said. With a shock, I realized I was staring at Lillian dad and step mom. To Christina, it was her stepparents. Mr. and Mrs. Blake. The mom seemed to noticed Christina and her face hardened.
"You brought her?" she said to Lillian like as if she couldn't stand to say Christina's name at all.
"Yeah and? Got a problem with it?" Lillian challenged.
"You know full well that she is not welcomed! You may have gone with her but you will always be welcomed. She's not even mine or your father's!" spat the step mom.
"That she is Christina. Treat her with some respect," Lillian growled. "You may hate her but that doesn't give you a right to talk to her like that." The mom sneered.
"Honey. How about we talk about this inside. My dear, what exactly are you doing here?" Mr. Blake said.
"We came here because we heard that you have something to tell us," Lillian answered dryly. Mr. Blake nodded.
"Very well. Come in." He held the door in and we filed in but as Christina passed her step dad, she glared. The house was more beautiful on the inside than the outside. In front of us was a winding staircase. To our left was a nice size living room with white couches that looked really comfy. The living room was connected to the dining room that had huge glass doors that lead outside into the backyard where there was a pool with a small circle one that was kind of deep. To the right of the dining room was a door that led to a kitchen. The kitchen was huge! A window showed the pool. But next to the kitchen was a huge living room with glass doors everywhere that led out to the porch. I couldn't imagine living here. It was so beautiful. We sat down in the huge living room.
That's when two boys and a girl came running in from playing in the pool. One of the boys looked about ten and the other looked about the same age. The girl looked about eight but I could tell she was spoiled because they way she acted. The boys looked like their dad and the girl looked a lot like her mom. When they saw Lillian they paused.
"Lillian?" they questioned. She nodded grimly. They took notice of Christina and the eight year old said, "What are you doing back in this house Christina? You don't belong here you freak." What was it? Hate-Christina-because-you-don't-like-her day (or hate-Christina-because-she's-not-part-of-your-family day)?
"Better watch your mouth little girl. I see you're still a bigmouth," she retorted.
"I'm not a little girl. I can do anything I want," the girl sneered.
Christina's lip curled into a snarl.
"Yeah I can also see you haven't changed your attitude and rudeness, Brianna," Christina shot back. Brianna ran to the kitchen and yelled, "Mom! Why is Christina here? She's being rude and mean!" Christina rolled her eyes. The step mom said something and Brianna came stomping in with her head held high.
"You have to go talk to mom," Brianna smirked.
"I don't live here anymore so I don't have to listen to anyone. Now go," Christina growled.
"No," Brianna said flatly.
"You better go now Anna," Christina argued.
"I'm not Anna. That's not my nickname. You can't call me that so go to mom now," hissed Brianna. I could tell Christina had gotten under skin with that nickname.
"She's not my mother," Christina said.
"How about you get out of here now and go to mom," mothered Brianna
"How about I don't and you do?" shot back Christina.
"No. Why don't you just leave? And who is he? Your boyfriend?" Brianna sneered, looking at me with a look of disgust.
"That's my brother you little bastard. Now why don't you just shut up and get out of here," snarled Christina, leaning in real close to Brianna's face. Brianna's eyes widened, and she went scampering back into the kitchen. Christina sat back and glared at her step dad as if saying, why did you guys spoil that brat? Lillian cleared her throat.
"Anyways. What was it that you wanted to tell us, dad?"
"Actually it was to ask you a couple of things and to fix some of them," he replied, folding his hands. Lillian face darkened.
"If you're trying to fix what happened in the past and have us come home so we can go to school, it's not happening," Christina answered instead.
"My dear," Mr. Blake said. "As much as my wife hates you, I still want you and Lillian to come home."
"You hate me also because you didn't want me! I showed up on your doorstep in a golden cradle etched with blue waves, carried down by the Zephyr the West Wind! But as soon as you saw me, you knew automatically that I was a daughter of Athena but not your daughter like Lillian. You may have taken me in but that didn't stop you from hating me." Then you married Miranda who hates so much that I was neglected! And you went along with her!" yelled Christina. I could feel her emotions building up. I grasped her wrist. She didn't draw away thank the gods.
"You may have been the daughter of Athena and not mine, but I loved you!" Mr. Blake yelled back.
"Yeah? If you loved me so much, then how come you played along with her, neglected me and blamed everything on me? And if you loved Lillian just as much, why did you treat her almost the same way? After monsters attacked, you and Miranda would always shout at us about how we were endangering this stupid family!" answered Christina. I squeezed her wrist. Mr. Blake opened his mouth but he had nothing to say. Then Mrs. Blake came in and said something to Christina.
"¡Puesto usted jamás habla con mi marido como eso! ¡Y le se puso jamás habla de mí como eso!" the step mom shouted in Spanish.
"¡Puedo si quiero a. Me puse vive aún con usted ya tan yo me puse tengo que escuchar cualquiera de usted!" Christina shouted in the same tongue.
"¡Usted idiota pequeño! Supe tan pronto como yo le vi que usted y su hermana sería nada más que problemas!" Mrs. Blake objected. I stared in horror at her. The only word I understood was 'idiota pequeño' which was 'little idiot'.
"¡Nosotros siendo los molestos? Usted me ha odiado y usted es el idiota pequeño usted-," Christina said some colorful words in Greek and English. "monsters atacó porque somos semidioses! Supo que una vez su marido lo le explicaba!" Christina snapped. Mrs. Blake was about to say something but thought better of it. She sneered out Christina, gave her one last look and went outside.
"That's what I thought," hissed Christina, watching her leave. Christina called her a few more colorful words in Greek. Then she turned back to her step dad.
"Is that all?" she growled.
"No. I also heard that you were on a quest to save your friend Alethia," Mr. Blake answered. Lillian nodded.
"Well I was thinking that you could just get showered and stay the night so you guys can be refreshed," he suggested nervously. Mrs. Blake came back in and listened to the rest of the conversation, regarding Christina. Christina was about to object but I nudged her. I locked eyes with her.
"Please," I whispered. "We could all use with some rest."
"I don't want to stay here at all," she whispered back.
"Christina, please. I know you hate this place but we need to catch up on some sleeping, especially you," I pleaded. "Please Christina." Her mouth twitched in annoyance.
"Fine then. We'll stay for the night," she sniffed. "But you had better make sure that Miranda stays away from me and leaves me alone," she added, glaring at her step mom with so much hate that I thought it would explode from her. Lillian and I exchanged looks and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. We would talk to her later on.
We stood up and left the room. Christina however went outside to the pool area and stood looking out the fence. I explored the house for a bit with the others. Then we decided that we should all get into the pool. I changed quickly and as the others did; I went out to find Christina still there. Her hair color had changed to honey blond.
"Hey."
"Hi Logan."
"You getting into the pool?"
"Maybe," she said. I stood in uncomfortable silence.
"I wanted to ask you something," I said after awhile. "Something about your parents." Christina turned on me, her gray eyes lit with a cold glare.
"And exactly what is it?" she answered bitterly.
"You said that you're dad-," she raised an eyebrow.
"Um, you're step dad," I corrected, "explained the monster thing to your step mom? Can he see through the Mist?" She turned her head back around.
"Yeah. I'm not sure if Miranda does but she seems to understand the whole 'monster' thing," Christina told me, making air quotes.
"I guess that's a good thing because then she doesn't freak out."
"You call that a good thing?" Christina growled.
"Yeah. I mean if-,"
"Do you know what it was like living in the household with her and knowing that she understood the monster thing?" interrupted Christina. I opened my mouth to speak but Christina was in a roll.
"Every single time a monster attacked, she'd get angry because she thought that we were trying to kill the family by doing dangerous things. Like we ever did," she said sarcastically. "She would also think that the monsters were our fault." She took a deep breath.
"Christina. I'm sorry if this is bothering you. I shouldn't have brought it up because I know you haven't seen them in years," I said apologetically. Christina didn't say anything.
"The truth is, Lillian and I did go back a couple of times," she confessed.
"You did?"
She nodded.
"And let me guess. Didn't go very well?" I guessed.
"Yeah. Each time was worse than the last. Then finally I decided with Lillian that we shouldn't go back anymore."
"Oh. Well now that this matter is covered, are you getting in the pool at all?" I asked. She looked at me and smiled.
"You bet," she answered.
A/N: This is not a lie: I can speak Greek and the Greek words used in the chapter will be switched over to my translation. Also, I will put the Spanish translation.
Greek Translation:
Mýga: Fly
Grí̱gora: (General Translation: Fast), (Actual Translation: Quickly)
OTHER GREEK TRANSLATIONS:
Tachýtita: Speed
Tachéo̱s: Rapidly
Grí̱gora tréchei: fast run
Tréchei grí̱gora: run fast
Spanish Translation (once again, I don't know if it's right. I'm only in Spanish III so I apologize to those who understand Spanish a lot better than I do if it not the correct one):
"Don't you ever talk to my husband like that! And don't ever talk about me like that!" (Mrs. Blake)
[Basic translation]: "I can if I want to. I don't live with you guys anymore so I don't have to listen to any of you." (Christina)
"You little idiot! I knew as soon as I saw you and your sister, you would be nothing but trouble!" (Mrs. Blake)
"Us annoying? You hated me and you're the little idiot you-, " (colorful words in Greek and English) "Monsters attacked us because we're demigods who was explained this by her husband!" (Christina)
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