Palen gently dismounted Pegasus and looked at his surroundings. Pegasus had brought them to an apartment complex near the edge of Manhattan. The building was about 34 stories high and had big windows on each floor. Aiden slid of the stallion's back and fell over once all his weight had transferred from his arms to his legs. He moaned and held his calves. "It happens," said Palen. "You'll get used to using your leg muscles after a while. But right now we have more important matters in our hands." Palen looked at Aiden's facial expressions and grimaced. This guy really needs to ride more often if he's to accompany me, he thought. Palen looked to his right and followed the low grey picket fence to a large tree. He frowned and walked over to it. He felt its bark and looked at the ground around its roots. Palen stood back and smiled. The tree had three main trunks and they'd twisted around each other. "Pando," whispered Palen. The tree started to unfurl slowly. Aiden's eyes were about to pop out of his head at this point. He stood up and walked over to Palen. The two boys stared at the dimly lit passage way leading into the ground. "Ladies first," joked Palen.
Kronos turned around and sat down on his throne. He lent his head on his hand and began to think. "Squadron 7 hasn't returned yet, Necromius was with them to oversee the situation. Hhmmm. Squadron 4 could take care of the demigods, but that girl . . . I fear she is a threat, maybe event o Necromius . . ." A telkine walked in and knelt at Kronos's feet. "My Lord the demigods have moved on. Necromius said to send Squadron 4 to sector 86." "Thank you, you may depart," replied Kronos. Kronos rose up and leant on his war map. It showed their entire base and everything around it; Trees, complexes and annoying mortals homes. Suddenly, Polybotes rushed into the room, his bounding footsteps resonating against the high walls. "My Lord! You must come at once," said Polybotes. Kronos straitened himself and followed the Giant out of the hall. They arrived at a group of telkines handling a body, dead by the looks of it. Kronos glanced at Polybotes and noticed he was trembling in anger. A telkine lifted the body and showed its head. "Who was the killer?" asked Kronos. "We think it was another demigod. But it could have been a third party whose presence we couldn't detect," said the telkine. "Polybotes, I know your greatest wish was to kill the son of Poseidon but it seems another has beaten you to it," Kronos chuckled and some of the surrounding monsters joined in. Polybotes went red in the face and yelled at them, "I WILL get my revenge, no matter what the cost!"
Kallisto woke to someone shaking her. "Wake up, we need to get moving." It was Emily. Kallisto let a brief smile erupt on her face as she rolled up the blankets and repacked the bags. "Ok, I guess that's everything," said Skye. They started walking down the tunnel right in front of them. Grover felt a shiver trickle down his spine. He whimpered and started chewing his wooden club. Skye halted the group and listened carefully. "Grover, do you hear that?" "Hear the banging, you're hearing that too?" he said. "No Grover, that's your heartbeat. I meant the faint talking and footsteps," "Oh. Yeah I hear them now." Skye and Grover crept forward and looked round the next corner into the next passageway. There were two figures coming towards them. Skye stood up and made herself visible in the tunnel. The two figures stopped. Then the one came forward. "Skye?" he said. "Aiden!?" said Skye. "What in the world are you doing here? And why is there blood on your top? An- wow, why is your hair brown?" Skye giggled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Aiden, just sit down for a moment. I'll explain everything." Palen coughed to get their attention. "And who's your fury friend?" asked Palen. "What fury friend?" asked a puzzled Aiden. Skye face-palmed and started laughing. Aiden raised his eyebrows and looked at Palen. Palen just shrugged. "There is this thing called the Mist. . ." began Skye.
After a whole inept discussion about the Mist and Skye's ability to control it, the party eventually set off again. "So Palen, you're a god?" asked Kallisto. "Yes, he is a Roman minor god," answered Emily, avoiding his eye contact. Palen looked at the floor and accepted the situation. Nothing had been the same after he left; he truly wished it could be. After Emily had saved Olympus, he had fallen for her. He hoped they could work this out. "So," said Grover, breaking the awkward silence. "Why are you here Palen?" "Pegasus said Emily needed help." Emily blushed. "And you Aiden?" "I, um, well … I don't know." Aiden looked at the ground as if it held all the answers. This is going to be a long quest, thought Skye.
That evening (well they couldn't really tell if was evening or not for they were underground, but anyway), they settled down and they thought about making a fire. Eventually they agreed not to make a fire but they still needed food. They all searched the bags and eventually found some sustenance that could do the trick. Aiden was talking with Skye and she was laughing. Kallisto smiled at that. It was good that the group was happy. Emily and Palen were holding hands and talking quietly. Kallisto eventually put her head down and fell asleep.
Aiden stroked Skye's face. Skye smiled and her eyes were shining. Aiden couldn't resist and leant down and kissed her. She didn't pull away. Nobody actually noticed but at about the same time Palen had kissed Emily. Emily put her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Grover walked back to their 'camp site'. "Wow wow! Guys, get a room!" The two couples pulled away from each other and looked at the other one with a puzzled look. The girls blushed and Aiden started to laugh. Soon they were all on the floor laughing so hard they cried.
Well, I'm not great at the mushy scenes but I totally ship Emily+Palen and Skye+Aiden. Please comment on how you want the relationships to go.
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