Chapter 3: We're bringing a Plus one
After the meeting, Nikki and I made our way to the Ares cabin.
Yes, I know, you're probably thinking, "are you mad?! They're going to beat you up!" yeah, yeah. I get it.
But here's the thing about Colwyn: he's a bit…different for an Ares kid. You'll see in a bit what I'm talking about.
"Hey, I have to get my things and some supplies for the quest. Meet up at the tree?" Nikki said as we neared the Ares cabin. I merely nodded. I watched her back as she walked to the Hermes cabin.
Nikki's Godly parent hasn't claimed her yet, which was odd, considering the promise that Percy made the Gods make after The Battle of Manhattan. Because of that, she stayed at the Hermes cabin, being the only unclaimed one.
I was in front of the Ares cabin door, loud music was playing from the cabin, as always. When I knocked and the door opened, I pretty much expected what was going to happen next. I ducked just in time to let a spear go over me and impale the barbed wire fence.
Yeah, they have those too.
The person who greeted me was none other than Clarisse La Rue, head counselor for the Ares cabin and famous Drakon slayer.
"The hell do you want punk?" she said, glaring at me.
"Is Colwyn here? I need to talk to him." I said.
She didn't look surprised, and shouted behind her, "Hey, scrawny! Your friend from Gloom cabin is here!"
I tried not to be offended by her statement, but the Hades cabin wasn't all that gloomy.
I heard a few scuffles from the inside of the cabin, and just a few moments later, Colwyn came out.
For an Ares kid, he was…un-Ares like so to speak. Standing at around 5'7, he was short for someone his age. He was really skinny, had curly hair and dark green eyes. Today he was sporting a black eye, probably from one of his siblings.
"Hey Clarisse, I'll take it over from here, thanks." He said. Clarisse just rolled her eyes and went inside the cabin. Colwyn closed the door behind him.
"So, what's up?" He asked while giving me a toothy grin. Only one of his teeth was missing. I looked at him a bit more closely; he had bruises all over his body.
"Holy shit, what happened to you?" I said.
He grimaced, "Just a little rough love between siblings. We never really get along together, anyway, what did you want to tell me? It's got to be important since you and Nikki usually just iris-message me."
I noticed he didn't want the matter pursued, so I rolled with it.
"We just received a prophecy for a quest, you want to come along?" I said.
He was utterly shocked, "Why me? You know I'm not that good on the battlefield."
I rolled my eyes, "Dude, this isn't the first time I asked you for help for a quest."
He reddened a bit, "That was nothing. And that was help FOR a quest; I wasn't even part of the quest myself."
"Bullshit, that invention saved every goddamn couple out there, which equals to saving the world you know." I said as we started walking towards the Dining pavilion.
"It was just an Ice-cream machine. Anyway, we're getting off-topic, what's this quest that you're so eager to have me on?" he said as he stopped walking. We looked at each other for a few seconds.
I scratched the back of my head, while Colwyn didn't have the body of an Ares kid, he had this aura of authority when he was serious.
"It's a rescue mission." I said, I didn't think it was going to be this hard persuading Colwyn to join the quest. Goes to show that, even if you've known someone for long, you can still learn new things about them.
"Who are we rescuing?" he asked
I just opened my mouth to speak when suddenly, someone else answered.
"Lady Artemis, she was kidnapped by a bunch of wolves and their leader." Nikki said as she plopped down on the tree beside us.
Colwyn looked at me with a shocked face, "You want me, to go with you, to rescue a Goddess from a pack of wolves and their leader?!"
I grinned, "That's the plan dude."
He rubbed his hands against his face, unable to say anything. After a while, he looked up and said, "We're probably going to die, you know that right?"
"Demigod life bro, we're always going to end up dying one way or another." I folded my arms and smirked.
"Ugh, I hate you. Fine, I'll join the damn quest." Colwyn said while shaking his head.
"Yay! Now guys, pack up, rest well, and we'll meet tomorrow morning at the tree okay? Okay!" Nikki said as she ran towards her cabin.
I looked around, saw that it was nighttime, and glanced at my watch, "Holy shit, it's that late already?"
I heard a chuckle beside me; I looked and saw Colwyn stifling a laugh.
"Something funny?" I asked, he just shook his head.
"You know, for a Son of Hades you're awfully terrible at sensing the dark." He said.
"And for an Ares kid, you're really skinny and nerdy." I said.
We stared at each other for a bit and burst into laughter, and we were still laughing when we went back to our cabins.
I found myself on top of a mountain; black clouds swirled across the sky. The smell of smoke and something really disgusting was in the air. I felt danger signs from this place, but why was I here?
"N-nick…"
I froze; I knew whose voice that was.
"Find me at the place where it all started. You have very little time, three days at most."
"Lady Artemis, what happened to you?!" I shouted.
"No…time…I am terribly weakened, you have to hurry, if they kill me they'll roam the earth freely and kill countless lives. Find me at the place where it all started…find…me…Nick…Nick-"
"Nick! Nick! Wake up you bloody idiot!"
I felt someone pull me off of my bed, and I fell down the floor face-first.
"Ouch. Maybe an alarm clock would be nice next time?" I said as I got up.
I saw Nikki giving me a disapproving glare. I sighed and saw that it was five in the morning.
This is going to be a long ass day.
