Thalia didn't think, she wasn't a daughter of Athena, but a daughter of Zeus; she didn't think, she did. She rushed towards the hellhound and stabbed it through the side; the strength and force of the impact knocking the monster into its partner.
Thalia bared her teeth, settling into a defensive crouch, muscles tensed, ready to spring; she looked like a panther about to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. She brought her shield up, smashing it into the first hellhound's skull while she skewered the second one. The second hellhound howled in pain as the spear went through him and he exploded into a fine white powder.
The first hellhound snarled at her and swiped at her head. Thalia ducked, punching the hellhound with her shield; one of her favorite and most used move. She dodged another swipe; glad she wasn't wearing heavy bronze armor, it would've only slowed her down.
Thalia jumped back, avoiding a hit and she stumbled, losing her balance for a moment, but a moment was all the hellhound needed to cuff her over the head.
Thalia fell to her knees, ears ringing from the force of the blow; she wasn't sure if she bleeding. She staggered to her feet, wincing as the ringing in her ears protested. She felt something yanking her stomach and she winced at the pain. The pain became worse, making her double over in agony. A loud explosion ricocheted in the air as slimy black tendrils wrapped around the hellhound, crushing it to bits.
Thalia's eyes widened at the display of power; she had seen the same thing happen at the gymnasium at Garcia Middle School.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Arianna slump to her feet, her olive complexion pale, sweat beading above her brow. The park was alive with panicked mortals and just chaos in general.
The daughter of Zeus staggered to her feet and limped over to the fallen Hispanic, pulling her up with a grunt of effort. Amber was already up, Rayne's arm slung across her shoulder. "We've got to go" growled the huntress, ignoring the words of protest Arianna uttered as she picked the younger girl up bridal style. Amber snorted, giving the darkened sky a wary glance. "That has to be the biggest understatement of the century" mumbled the young pick-pocket.
Thalia guided the party towards the parking lot, stiffening when she felt Arianna nuzzle into her chest, relaxing once she realized the brunette was beginning to doze off. "Pick a car Amber" ordered Thalia, scanning the parking lot for any threats. It seemed that there weren't any more monsters around besides the two hellhounds. "Why?" questioned Amber, though she scrutinized the surrounding cars around them, finally settling upon a plain white van.
"We can't take the Mustang in case someone reported it missing already" explained Thalia, already moving towards the van. It took Amber a few tense moments to pick the lock on the car, disable the alarm and hotwire the vehicle. Those moments seemed to be an eternity for Thalia.
The limp girl in her arms reminded the huntress that not only was her life and the fate of Olympus at stake, but the life of a young girl as well. Carefully, Thalia nudged open the passenger door and gently settled her charge onto the seat before restraining her with the seatbelt; it would do no good to be pulled over by a mortal cop.
"Go back to the Mustang and get the bags, I'll take care of Rayne" said the older girl, taking the blond from Amber. The daughter of Hermes sped off and was back a few minutes later with their various backpacks in hand. A few moments later, they were pulling out of Six Flags. "No more unnecessary stops Amber; we stop only to put gas, catch some sleep, and use the bathroom" warned Thalia a few moments later. Amber nodded her head in agreement. "I'm sorry Thalia, I didn't mean for Rayne and Arianna to get hurt" whispered the young girl. Thalia glanced at her through the rearview mirror. Silent tears crawled down the daughter of Hermes's cheeks, shame written across her face. Thalia softened.
"It wasn't your fault, those hellhounds could've attacked us anywhere" she said, trying to comfort her. Amber said nothing, and when Thalia looked at her again, she saw that the girl had pulled Rayne's unconscious body onto her lap and had buried her face in her companion's rich fair hair. Thalia didn't look at them again.
Instead, she glanced sideways towards Arianna. The Latina was sound asleep, her exhausted body accepting sleep. Thalia couldn't help but marvel at the strength the younger girl possessed; to have unleashed the full extent of her powers twice in a few days was impressive, Thalia doubted that if she herself tried to mimic the feat, she'd survive. The strength to survive such a task was great indeed.
The group drove through the busy streets of San Antonio, while Thalia debated her options in her mind. At first, driving had seemed like such a great idea, but now that she was aware that monsters were indeed hunting them, she needed to get the group to camp faster. Arianna needed to be trained properly, and they wouldn't have the time to train if they drove. Thalia racked her brain for any other options, but none would provide her with a faster mode of transportation
Grumbling in Ancient Greek, she drove the car towards the airport. At the sound of planes landing and taking off, Amber woke. She stared out the window in a sleep induced daze.
"I thought we were driving" she mumbled drowsily. "Change of plans, we need to get to get to camp faster" said Thalia. Amber raised an eyebrow. "How do you explain that?" she asked, nodding towards a slumbering Rayne and Arianna.
Thalia glared before reaching over to gently shake Arianna awake. "Get up Arianna, you just need to stay awake for a couple of hours and then you can go back to sleep" whispered the daughter of Zeus. Hazel eyes slowly flickered open and in a few moments, sharpened into focus.
"We're at the airport, I decided that flying is safer" explained the older girl. Slowly, gingerly, Arianna pushed herself up off the seat, and with Thalia's assistance, was able to unbuckle her seatbelt.
A few moments later, Rayne stood outside the car, rubbing her tender skull. Arianna leaned against the car, watching with bored interest as Thalia and Amber worked to unload the van of their possessions. "Shouldn't you update Chiron?" questioned Rayne as Thalia shouldered her backpack. The taller girl shrugged as she hefted the last bag out of the van before slamming the door shut. "I will" she promised as she shifted the bag to her other hand.
Arianna's eyes narrowed into slits as she gazed at the huntress. "Isn't that my backpack?" she asked, gesturing towards the bag in Thalia's hands. Thalia nodded slowly in response. "Yeah, why are you asking?" Arianna glared at her before snatching the backpack away. "I can carry my own stuff thank you very much" she growled. Thalia raised a slim brow. "Oh really? Even after exerting yourself so much you want to lug around your own stuff? Fine, be my guest" responded the daughter of Zeus in a mocking tone. Arianna glared at her but remained silent. "Ahem! Here Arianna, I got you your passport. Well, it's actually a fake one, but they won't notice" said Amber, breaking the tension caused by the two older girls.
Arianna took the passport from her and eyed it gingerly. "You sure they'll buy it?" she asked. Amber nodded her head eagerly, appearing offended. "Of course! What kind of daughter of Hermes would I be if I couldn't even make a decent fake passport?" she asked.
A muscle in the Latina's jaw twitched but she remained silent. She was still skeptical about the whole Olympian gods thing, but with recent events, she was slowly beginning to believe them.
"We better hurry, I have a feeling our plane leaves in 30 minutes" said Rayne, who had stayed silent the entire conversation. Thalia looked at her in surprise and the daughter of Apollo grinned sheepishly and tapped her temple lightly. "A little gift from dad is being able to either "see" the future or sense things. I can sense them" she explained.
Thalia couldn't fight the smirk that graced her lips at Arianna's dumfounded expression. "C'mon, we're wasting time" said the huntress, adjusting her backpack over her shoulder before leading the group into the airport.
The airport was busy and noisy. Thalia could feel a headache coming on just by watching people bustle around. The older girl scanned the signs, struggling against her dyslexia to read the painted words.
Arianna raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't asking someone where to purchase tickets be easier than trying to read the signs?" she asked. Thalia glared at her. "I can read just fine" she said coldly. Amber frowned. "But, Thalia, you can't, you're dyslexic, we're all dyslexic" pointed out the amber eyed girl.
The huntress gritted her teeth and it took every ounce of self control not to throttle the younger girl or to smack the smug look off Arianna's face. Rayne grinned and patted Thalia's arm. "You're dyslexic too Arianna, so you shouldn't be looking so smug" growled Thalia. Arianna snorted and crossed her arms across her chest. "Yet I don't mind asking for help" retorted the Hispanic, and whirled around to face an elderly woman who was passing by. "Excuse me, miss, could you tell us where we can purchase tickets?" she questioned.
The woman eyed Arianna warily, taking in the group's slight raggedy appearance. "There's a booth up ahead, the bathrooms and water fountains are directly across from it" she replied. Arianna gave her a quick thank you as the woman hobbled away, and turned back to the group with a triumphant grin.
"See? Easy as pie" she said. Thalia rolled her eyes, though she grudgingly patted Arianna's arm and set down the hallway in a brisk pace.
The booth the lady had spoken of had a short line, and Thalia was able to purchase the tickets with little trouble. Thanks to Amber's pick pocketing habits, Thalia had been pleased to discover a large sum had been added to their dwindling amount of cash; enough that she was able to purchase first class tickets and still have a comfortable amount of money left over.
When she returned to where she had left the group, she was surprised to see Amber holding an expensive looking watch for Arianna and Rayne to examine. "Did you steal that?" asked the daughter of Zeus once she was close enough to be heard only by her companions. Amber grinned proudly and puffed up her chest. "Yep! I'm sure once we get back to camp I can find a daughter of Aphrodite who'd pay some good money for this" exclaimed the daughter of Hermes. Arianna chuckled and bumped her shoulder into Amber's. "Watch this" she said before slipping away from the group.
Thalia watched curiously as Arianna casually walked past a wealthy looking man who was busy barking something into his phone. Her eyes widened as she saw the girl slip her hand into the man's pocket and pull out an expensive wallet that was bulging with money and nonchalantly stuffed it into the pocket of her jacket. Suddenly, a hand latched onto the Hispanic's wrist and she found herself looking into a pair of cold, dark eyes.
The security guard was a large man with thick, dark hair and was clean shaven. His eyes were like a snakes; dark and beady. Thalia could feel herself tensing, but Rayne tugged her back. "Wait, something's going to happen" said the blond, brows furrowed as she tried to concentrate on her gift. The security guard said something to which Arianna responded back to an innocent tone. The guard growled out something and tightened his grip on Arianna's wrist. The girl's posture stiffened slightly and her eyes narrowed into dangerous, catlike slits. A commotion reached them, and the security guard shifted his attention for a moment, but that was all Arianna needed.
Moving like a snake, she was able to wriggle out of the guard's grip and darted into the crowd. The guard cursed and scanned the area for her in vain. After a few moments of searching, he gave up and went back to his post. A moment later, Arianna appeared at Thalia's elbow, smiling sheepishly.
"That was close" she said, brushing strands of hair from her eyes. Thalia glared at her. "That was a stupid thing to do. If you hadn't been able to escape, we would've had to come up with a plan to rescue you" she growled, reaching over to grip the younger girl's shoulder.
Arianna's eyes darkened in anger and she shoved Thalia's arm off. "Well, I was able to escape. Besides, you could've just showed him your spear and threatened to run him through with it" she hissed. Thalia snorted. "Our weapons are made of celestial bronze and are only capable of hurting monsters, not mortals. Besides, the Mist wouldn't have allowed him to see the spear; he would've seen a gun or something like that" explained Thalia coldly. Arianna straightened to her full height, which wasn't much compared to the Hunter's 5'9 height.
"Guys, they just announced that our plane is ready to be boarded, we've got to go" said Rayne, who, along with Amber, had been watching the two dark haired girls fight. Gently, she grabbed Arianna's shoulder and pulled her away from Thalia while Amber busied herself with asking for directions.
The girls went through security without a hitch, the guard who had caught Arianna nowhere in sight.
Thalia and Arianna had managed to get the seats next to each other; Arianna getting the window seat, and Thalia the one by the hallway. Amber and Rayne were positioned diagonal from them, their seating reversed. Thalia found herself watching her fellow passengers warily, as if waiting for one them to turn into a monster. She found herself fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist nervously as the plane took off.
Next to her, Arianna seemed to have dozed off, and Thalia found herself staring at the girl. Arianna's face was smooth, her pale pink cupid's bow lips twitching into a smile as she shifted in her seat, her head coming to rest on Thalia's slightly broad shoulder. Normally, having someone this close to her would've made the huntress uncomfortable and restless, she found herself able to sit still.
Arianna's thick curls felt silky against her neck and cheek, and a few strands tickled Thalia's lips. She found the sensation oddly enjoyable. With the younger girl's calm, even breathing, Thalia found herself being lured to sleep. Even though the last thing she saw before her eyes closed was Rayne and Amber talking to themselves, the last thing that crossed the huntress's mind was that she'd give anything to run her fingers through Arianna's unruly mane of curls.