Important AN: I do not know when I will update next week. It's actually why I updated this almost two days earlier. The last two or three days I have been super busy and caught up with all sorts of family things which have seriously slowed down my update schedule, and my comfy little cushion of chapters for this have run out. That would be fine, cause it ran out when I expected, almost at the end of Part II. I can write a chapter a week for two or three weeks if I have. But the whole of next week I might be stuck essentially in the middle of nowhere, with next to no internet access, and limited power. It's supposed to be a relaxing trip, but a week with nearly no writing... Apollo have mercy on my soul... So, now when I need that cushion of spare chapters the most, I have run out of spare chapters... Marvelous...
So, knowing that, I really doubt I'll be able to finish a proper, quality chapter in time and have it polished and ready to upload. So next week Saturday? Probably not happening. I can't even say Sunday or Monday either. I'll probably be delayed by a week, give or take a few days. For that, I am well and truly sorry. I hate not being able to write or update because writing keeps me sane, and knowing that you guys are reading and liking my work, reading and replying to your reviews, getting to know all these others cool writers here, it really does make my days, like, you have no idea. That, and I'm so close to the end of Part II, which means I'll have to start Part III soon and I'm really excited about that! So, bear with me until then, and wish me good luck! Oh, and before I forget!
WiseGirlGeek: I guess I'll keep trying until eventually it starts working. The site can be pretty buggy sometimes... Ah, you're catching onto all of them! I sprinkle hundreds of them everywhere! Of course, not every chapter is filled with them, but I plant them every now and then. Some are really obscure (Nico makes two Undertale references, one of which is in here) and others are glaringly obvious if you've heard of where they come from (The Mulan and Gurren Laggan references were practically decorated).
Well, I've stalled long enough. Just hoping I could let you guys know in case you're confused if/when there's no chapter update. I'll still try update, don't get me wrong, but I'm not gonna sacrifice quality for it so yeah. Love you guys too much for that!
CHAPTER 20: CAST, IN THE NAME OF THY 'FRO (Rachel Elizabeth Dare's thoughts)
Writer's block sucks. Everyone who just says 'keep trying' or 'you'll get over it' can take their input with them down to Tartarus.
Sorry. I'm not normally this angry. It's just that, when the fate of all your friends—and potentially the whole world—depends on how creative you're feeling, it can get a little bit stressful.
Ever since I told the current Great Prophecy (ugh, how unoriginal) I hadn't been able to hear the oracle's voice in my head. I knew something was wrong at the time, but I ignored it. Contrary to popular belief, I'm normally not giving prophecies a lot, so this wasn't unusual. But I couldn't even feel the oracle anymore. Suddenly, it felt like nothing inspired me anymore. Nothing looked magical or eye catching. My art and paints didn't interest me anymore. Even my dreams were unusually bland, if not outright absent. The most exciting dream I'd had in weeks was about eating soggy cornflakes. Like, seriously?
The oracle had gone silent. Believe me, I could tell, because this has happened before. During the Trials of Apollo. I didn't want anybody to know, but I was terrified. Terrified I would lose my power, what made me special.
And now, it was happening again. But this time, I wasn't going to wallow in my despair. I was going to force the prophecy out of me, through the power of art!
I'd replaced my speakers with a retro jukebox to give the sound of the music a nostalgic, almost rustic tone, and I was playing I Wish I Was a Punkrocker on loop. Maybe I was hoping that the sound would somehow seep into the blank page on the desk in front of me, but that was definitely not the case. It was probably three in the morning, but I was not going to sleep until I produced something at least halfway decent on my page. I didn't care what it was, even fan art! All I had to show for my work was a hideously disproportionate pony.
In a rage, I crumpled the paper up and threw it behind my back, not even caring about the sea of trashed pages, notes, and destroyed canvases that had replaced my little hideaway's floor. I stared at the blank page that was now in front of me and clutched my pen, trying to ignore the spots that were swimming in front of my eyes.
My head felt like it had been filled with helium, and every breath felt laboured. I was not going to pass out, no matter how exhausted my body felt. Even if it felt like my brain had been dunked in orange juice (why orange juice? Was I that sleepy?) I was not going to….
Drift off to sleep. I snapped myself awake with a start, letting out a surprised yelp as I fell off of my chair and onto the ground.
I stood up and looked around. I was definitely in the same room as before, in the exact same position. It was still dark outside. Good. I hadn't slept for too long.
I rose to my feet and turned back to my seat, and froze.
Sitting on my stool with her head resting on a blank page was a woman with frizzy red hair, ripped jeans, and an apron with splotches of paint on it. She looked suspiciously like me. No, she was me!
I approached her cautiously, wondering if I was looking at some kind of doppelganger or a shape shifter. I poked her nervously. My finger went right through her, like a ghost. I screamed, yanking my hand back.
"How does it feel to be dead?" a woman asked. I turned around with a start, reaching for a paint pot (Wow Rachel, first a hairbrush and now a paint pot? Your choice of weapons is outstanding), but found my hand went straight through that too, and through the whole desk.
Standing in the middle of the room was a woman with the most glorious hair I'd ever seen, puffed up in an enormous afro that would have stood out even in the eighties. For whatever reason, she seemed to have gone with that kind of seventies-eighties theme, with large flare pants and a top with golden buttons. I couldn't quite place what colour everything was, so I decided that they were rainbow coloured.
Her eyes were as golden as Kronos's, and I wasn't sure how much I wanted to trust her after I thought about that. A smile like a Cheshire cat spread on her face as she saw my expression change from confusion to horror as I pondered her question.
"Oh relax! I'm only teasing! You're not actually dead! Well, as long as you don't do anything stupid…."
"Wha… who are you?" I asked. "What's happening?" She pulled up a chair that I'd discarded earlier and sat down in it, leaning backwards. How she managed that with one of its legs broken was beyond me.
"Well, as I'm sure you can tell, I'm a goddess. You're currently having an Out of Body experience. That wasn't meant to happen. Must have been interference from that spirit sleeping inside you… my bad."
"Umm… okay? Can you fix this?"
"Of course! With a click of my fingers!" She snapped her fingers, and a hurricane swept in through the room. Everything rose into the air: all the upturned furniture, the shattered easels, the broken portraits and spilt paint pots (paint no longer included), all of it, and in two seconds flat, was back where they were supposed to be and the right side up. "I can't do much for the destruction, but I think it adds a nice touch…. Oh, you meant fix this situation with us talking here! Yeah, not happening until I'm done."
Normally, I would have liked such a colourful individual if she hadn't kidnapped me frommy sleep and I wasn't so cranky already.
"You're a goddess? That's impossible, I can't even guess who you are."
"Of course you can't. You westerners tend to be fond of ignoring everything that you didn't produce. Looking at the children in this country, I think it's time to ignore everything you do produce as well…."
"I'm not really sure how to take that comment…."
"Don't worry, I'm not here to give you parenting advice. I'm here to tell you something far more important to do with your little gift of prophecy and why it's not working." I didn't know what this goddess's name was or what she wanted with me, but something told me that I needed to hear what she had to say. Still….
"What happens if I don't wanna listen?" I asked.
"That's fine too. Just start enjoying eternity as a spirit. I hear it's pretty boring until you go vengeful. That's when the fun starts!"
Eternity sounded like a long time. With a sigh, I sat down on the couch now that it had been placed the right way up again, and just focussed on listening.
"Someone is trying to tamper with your visions."
"I knew it! But how? Are they just… blocking the signal?"
"Not quite…. They're kind of… twisting the prophecies. Honestly, it's pretty annoying to deal with. The only person I know who can fix it lives across the ocean and is really difficult to deal with."
"Then, assuming you're telling the truth, who's doing it?"
"That… I cannot say." I glared at her, but she just smirked back at me. "I'm serious! You know how it is with names. Just saying them can do a lot of bad stuff."
"Then give them a moniker or something, like 'you-know-who'."
"Can't do that. I'll have this person's thoughts on my mind and that's too risky. Over on this side, I'm not strong enough to mask our thoughts and presence. Now stop talking about it! You'll blow our cover!" My gut was telling me to listen, but my brain had other ideas. I didn't even know which goddess this was, or if she even was a goddess! She didn't act like the Greek gods at all.
"But if somebody is changing my prophecies, then shouldn't I still be getting them, just different?"
"You would be. And we would probably all be dead by now if that was the case. So I blocked them off completely."
"You did what?"
"I sealed your brain. Closed it tight like a zip." She added the whole zipping motion like she was sealing her lips, popping the 'p' sound as she did it. I swore to the gods that I was going to pop her out of existence if she made that noise again.
"Then all of this is your fault!" I roared. "You're the reason I can't draw or write anything! Because of you, all this time… I thought something was wrong with me!"
"Between crushing your spirit and letting the world burn, the choice was pretty easy. Sorry about that though." I wanted to scream. And here I thought that this was my problem, but it was just the goddess of afros messing around with my head! "I understand why you're so angry about it though. And honestly, this isn't an ideal situation for me either. There's a lot of important information that you need to get your hands on, and you can't do that with me embargoing your prophecies. And obviously if I unblock them, then it lets in all of the 'false' prophecies too. So, I'll give you a helping hand. I'll temporarily unblock your prophecy, just for one vision and one vision alone."
"And what's the catch?"
"Simple. Don't let…." Her voice disappeared, like it had been snatched by the wind. My vision started getting blurry, and it looked like all the murals and artwork were bleeding off of the walls. The goddess frowned as she saw me staggering to the ground as I desperately tried to stay upright. I felt nauseous. It was like somebody was liquefying all of my insides, brain included. "Looks like… found out… … piece of proph-… too late…." The goddess held up her hand, a brilliant golden light glowing inside of her palm. A series of images flashed before my eyes, getting starker and more twisted with each passing moment.
The images all rushed into my eyes like they had been blocked by a dam, waiting for somebody to knock it all down and let them out. I screamed as my mind was flattened beneath it all, the visions trying to fill up every crevice in my mind that they could fit in, soaking my brain like a sponge. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, and the screams were too much, I woke up, falling out of my seat again. This time, there was somebody other than myself screaming.
I clambered to my feet, barely noticing that the impromptu repairs to my room were still in effect, and rushed out of the cave entrance.
It was a beautiful late afternoon, filled with untold death and destruction. Oh, and really bright lights, bright as the sun and spewing lava.
The amphitheatre was a warzone, with campers fleeing from the centre. I couldn't really see it clearly, but there was a giant ball of light in the middle of it all—where the campfire should have been—with arcs of lightning and rivers of plasma or something erupting from it.
"Oh no," I mumbled as I staggered down the steps, already fully awake after just getting up. "Oh no oh no oh no…."
I probably should have been moving away from the centre of the destruction. Maybe I could have hidden under the bed if I felt especially cowardly. But the people down there were my friends, and I was not about to leave them to get fried.
I made it to the edge of the amphitheatre, and now I was a bit closer (and everything was a lot brighter), I could make it out a lot clearly.
First, it wasn't a single light, but three, all coming from these human silhouette things that looked like they were made of pure energy. They were moving pretty slowly, with unnatural, jerking movements, and they left behind puddles of molten rock wherever they went. Touching them would melt the flesh right off my bones.
A circle of campers had assembled around the edges of the amphitheatre, equipped with bows and javelins, raining down arrows and spears at the three figures for all the good they would do. One of them looked particularly annoyed as an arrow dug into its neck, slowly turning to face them. It pointed at them, and a second later, a massive ball of fire was heading their way. They screamed as it blew up, sending them scattering every direction it could. Another light monster followed suit, but with a whole stream of fire like a flamethrower instead of one exploding ball.
Amidst all of the heat and the light, I wasn't expecting to see somebody step out of a shadow, particularly not Nico di Angelo.
"Nico? What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Trying to make sure you guys don't get killed," he replied. "Light against dark, huh? Let's see who's stronger." Nico placed a hand on the ground, and a small army of the undead rose in response, all dressed in Spartan armour. All of the ones carrying spears chucked them first before drawing their swords and getting up close and personal. For a second, it looked like they were doing well too, hacking and slashing at them, but they were quickly mowed down with giant paws made up of lava, slapping them aside and burning them to a crisp. Nico didn't care, his hand never once leaving the ground as he summoned more and more of them.
"Nico, this isn't working," I said.
"And charging in like a moron is better? I'm trying to figure them out." The second wave got mowed down pretty quick, but not before ten of them dogpiled one of the monsters, burying it beneath their weight. Nico frowned as they struggled to keep the monster under control. "That's weird… they should have been destroyed by now…."
His thoughts were interrupted when two more campers arrived.
"Okay, who're the bad guys here?" the one with the beanie—Zach—asked, drawing a black revolver pistol from his pocket.
"Isn't it obvious?" the girl replied. "Those lights… they come from Samael! I'm sure of it!"
"And they're pretty much invincible," Nico added. "I've got a plan though. You guys, hold off two of them. I'll do my best with the one being body slammed."
"I'll take care of the wounded," I said, already scrambling to get everyone who was incapacitated out of there. As I helped campers up or dragged bodies away, I caught snippets of the fighting. The other newcomer—Riley—was slashing her way through two of them while Zach was aiming, trying to get in a good shot with his pistol. Nico was standing in front of the zombie pile.
"You're made of light, but you're weak when you're in the dark," Nico said, holding his hand in front of them. A ball of darkness absorbed the skeletons and the monster, engulfing them in the shadows. "Once you figure that out, you become nothing more than a glorified Christmas light." He clenched his fist, the ball collapsing within itself before it disappeared, no trace of everything that was inside it, even leaving a nice crater in the ground.
He turned to face the other two, but was greeted by the sound of a gunshot. It sounded more like a thunderbolt than a bullet, and there was a flash of red lightning and fire as it pierced the monster's skull.
Zach was holding his pistol up to the forehead of one of the monsters as it staggered backwards, unable to understand what had just happened. It collapsed to its knees, the light draining from its body until it looked like it was made of charcoal. It looked up at the sky and howled, a massive inferno swallowing it whole before fading away in the wind, leaving behind nothing but ash.
The last monster stared with an expression that screamed I'm not paid enough for this.
Zach didn't even hesitate, ending it in the same way. A flash of lightning and a towering inferno later, and there was nothing but ash, floating away in the breeze. It was almost as if nothing ever happened, so we were all just standing there panting and looking stupid.
And that's when Chiron showed up. Seriously, his timing couldn't have been any worse if he travelled by wheelchair. I was a little alarmed to see that his shirt was spattered with blood though, and his bow was already in his hands. Wherever he was, something had happened to him too.
"You… all of you… assess the damage and make sure nobody is hurt. Once you're done, report back to me in the Big House." Nico and I looked at each other. Something was definitely wrong. Chiron normally looked a lot more composed than this, even after a fight. He fought Kronos and finished up looking like he'd gone for a jog. Whatever had worked him up, it couldn't be good….
"Samael is rising."
"Oh really? I thought those light puppets were a training exercise!"
"The sarcasm's a little thick, but I've gotta agree with Riley. Shouldn't you have seen this coming?"
"I did. That's why Biko and the others are on that quest right now."
We'd gotten ourselves comfy in the Big House, chewing on biscuits and tea like we were just having a picnic. Mr. D was nowhere to be seen, and Nico looked more interested in Seymour the talking leopard head.
It was a miracle that nobody was dead actually, although we were cutting it close. A lot of campers had nasty burns and all sorts of other injuries. The infirmary was almost full. Riley looked more ticked off than anything. Her gauntlets still hadn't disappeared, and she was tapping her foot impatiently. Even as we were talking, Zach was cradling his pistol, and honestly, I was just hoping that he remembered to put the safety on.
"Wait, Biko's on that quest because you knew this would happen?" Riley asked. "I thought that it was Athena's decision to send him out?"
"It was. And I'm still not sure that I agree with it. But she recognised the danger too. Remember, she said that for Ludmila, being outside camp would be 'safe' compared to in here. There is something very odd about those two, a different kind of power. Having them here would be worse than having a child of the Big Three in camp. Those monsters might have been able to sneak in earlier."
"Yeah, how did they do that?" I asked. "We're protected by some really heavy barriers. No monsters or mortals should be able to enter without our permission."
"I should know," Zach said. "I got locked out of camp the other day when I tried to collect this puppy. Turns out I only got in the first time because Riley said 'make yourself comfy'. I was stuck there for hours." I wanted to ask about Zach's gun too. It insta-killed two of those guys with ease. I'd never seen anything like it inside or outside of camp. But that would have to wait. Camp being in imminent danger seemed more worrying.
"So basically, Athena was scared that these monsters—Samael's goons I guess—were gonna find a way into camp if the two rookies stayed here, so she sent them out to buy us more time…. So, they're like a lure or a decoy?"
"There was very little I could do to stop her," Chiron began, "but I figured they would still be safer then here. But upon realising this, I began to doubt that decision."
"It makes sense," Nico said. "Sacrifice the few to protect the many. Still sounds pretty rotten though, but that's the way it goes for us… so, how did those things get in?"
"I wish I knew. Not many creatures can brute force their way through. Riley, you have first-hand experience with Samael. Those things… they were definitely from him?"
"Yup. But they were much weaker than the original. They didn't even seem sentient. But what bothers me is that they had an actual body. Samael was just… energy. He was trapped in a rock. They were wandering around, and there were three of them. Just getting into camp must have drained their power. If they were at full strength, then we wouldn't have been able to fight one, and that still wouldn't hold a candle to the real deal. Err, no pun intended."
"Whatever those things were, one thing is clear: Samael is getting stronger. He's almost at full power even as we speak. That was the other reason that Biko is on his quest. He thinks it's just to prove himself to his mother, but there's much more to it than that…."
"While you guys have been hanging around here, my team has been gathering intel," Nico continued, picking up from Chiron. "We can't pinpoint where Samael is yet, but we know one thing: every time a particularly powerful magical item goes missing, Samael gets stronger a few days later. This has been going on for a long time, and now it's finally having affects. Samael is waking, and if he rouses himself, we're all in for a bad time."
"So we just have to beat up Samael before he hits full power," I said. "No problem!"
"Big problem. None of us know where he is. Not even the Olympians."
"Wait, really?" Zach asked. "But, Hades is the one who saved us from him. Shouldn't he have a good idea of where he went?"
"If he did, don't you think we would have destroyed Samael already? He chased him down for a few hours before he-"
"Stop right there!" I yelled, attracting everybody's stares. "He chased him?"
"Yes. What's wrong?" Well, Samael was a rock for a start. I couldn't get the image of him digging his way over the ground like a diglett, or Bugs Bunny out of my head, but this was serious talk so I let them continue. "Anyway… he chased him before Samael pretty much vanished. As far as we can tell, he's somewhere in this country, but that's about it." Everyone stayed silent for a little bit while I pondered over the images the goddess had shown me in my dream.
"I think I know where he is…." I told them about my dream and how I saw the location in my head.
"Come on, that's just too melodramatic!" Riley yelled.
"You'd be surprised how much monsters love melodrama," Zach replied. "Anyway, it's our onlylead. It's better than sitting around here, waiting for the apocalypse."
"Great! Now there's another problem: how do we beat him?" I asked. I hated to be so negative but I really wasn't looking forward to burying any more bodies, and charging in without a plan was the quickest route to that.
"Nico, that was your responsibility," Chiron said, looking him in the eyes.
"Well, we came up with a few ideas…. Samael is sealed in a stone tablet, right? And at the end of the day, he's a spirit. After finding out that Samael is weak to darkness from today's fight, I think I can do it, as long as I work together with Hazel…." He explained his plan to us, and the more I listened, the more I started to believe that it might just work. And yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong, and the images the afro goddess showed me weren't helping….
I didn't need to be an oracle to tell that though. Things always went wrong. It would depend on us to fix them.
"This is our best shot, but I'm not looking forward to it," Nico said. "We just barely made it through the last prophecy. I don't want to put Hazel in danger again…."
"Nico, she's a member of the legion," Chiron said. "Not only that, but she's one of The Seven. She can handle anything that gets thrown her way."
The Seven…. The seven strongest demigods of their generation. They had proven they could do the impossible. If anybody could pull this off, it would be one of them. Maybe.
"I cannot honestly say that I'm not concerned," he continued, "but I believe that you'll be able to pull through. However, plans never run smoothly, and it's always wise to have a backup. If that fails, what then?"
"I think I have the answer to that," Zach said. He cleared his throat and tried his best to suppress a smile. "Back in eighteen thirty-five, when Halley's Comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo, they say Samuel Colt made a gun… a special gun. He made it for a hunter—a man like me, only on horseback. The story goes he made thirteen bullets, and the gun was used a half dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. Somehow, an old acquaintance of mine got a hold of it…." He placed his gun on the table for all to see.
It was an ebony black revolver with a stupidly long, hexagonal barrel. It had a wooden grip with a pentagram carved into it, and it looked worn and weathered down from repeated use. There were a few decorative floral designs around the start of the barrel, but what got my attention was the weird inscription on it: non timebo mala, whatever that meant. "They say—they say this gun can kill anything."
"Anything?" Riley asked.
"Anything, no exceptions. I'm pretty lucky. The only guy left alive who knows how to make its bullets crafted a bunch for me, so I've got more than six shots. Eleven to be precise, now that I've used up two. Since Samael is sentient and magical, he counts as a creature. If all else fails, I'll just shoot the tablet and be done with it."
Nico was eyeing the gun suspiciously, and I couldn't blame him. Such a dangerous artefact probably wouldn't even be allowed in the hands of an ordinary demigod, let alone one with a remarkable talent for shooting them, but this was an extreme situation. Zach was the most experienced marksman here. If anybody could pull off the shot, it would be him.
"And if that plan fails?" Chiron asked again.
"We run away obviously. I'm not interested in dying just yet." Riley snorted.
"Run away? Really Zach? That's your go-to choice?"
"Well it's better than dying! I can't exactly protect anybody as a corpse."
"You're right. If things get messy, we get out of there alive. All of us. But I'm not gonna run with my tail between my legs just because he's scared me off. If running away puts any of you in danger, then I'll never be able to forgive myself. Besides, I've still got a score to settle with that guy." She pounded her fist into her open palm and, I kid you not, we could feel the wind from the blow. It even blew a few papers off the table.
Zach seemed to be the only one who actually noticed, because he was staring wide eyed at her the whole time, even as everybody was already taking it in.
"So, when do we restart our quest?" Zach asked, still looking a little awestruck.
"Did you even have to ask? You already know the answer." A smile spread on his face, still filled with complete bafflement.
"Tomorrow morning, right?" Chiron nodded his head, and Riley just responded by getting up already, stretching out her shoulders.
"We can't waste any more time than we need to," Chiron said. "Use today wisely to prepare and inform Reika of everything that's passed."
"I'll communicate with Hazel and the others," Nico said, getting up. It was strange to see the difference in the boy. I never really got to know him that well, but he used to be such a loner, always by himself whenever possible. He was still pretty isolated, but he didn't seem so sad anymore. Heck, he was even working with people.
Everybody was set. We all knew what we were meant to do. I wanted to go with them too, to help any way that I could. But camp needed its oracle. Leaving now would just be selfish (not to mention stupidly dangerous).
"Guys, make sure to take care of yourselves," I said. "If you ever need anything, I'm here for you."
"No problem Dare, we know!" Riley said. "I'll make sure to get a few good hits in for you! Hey, maybe I'll graffiti his tablet a bit too? Add some colour to his life!" I giggled. Riley was so strange. She could jump from mind bogglingly unapproachable to the easiest person to be with in a split second. Most people didn't see that other side of her a lot, but it made sense why Ash was always with her.
That, and why Zach was still looking at her like some kind of puppy. I rolled my eyes as I left the room first. With a pained sigh, I remembered that I still hadn't finished the drawing I left up in my room….
. . .
Third Person POV
"Was what you said true?" Zach asked. Riley looked at him in confusion. They'd been the last to leave, and since Chiron had gone out so he could assess the situation, they were the only people left, just standing on the Big House porch.
"Is what true?" Riley asked.
"That thing about wanting to settle the score with Samael." Zach knew he probably shouldn't question someone's motives for fighting. After all, hunters became hunters usually by questing for revenge. If she wanted to get payback, that was fine, but he just wanted to make sure she wouldn't kill herself doing it. Riley thought about it for a second before answering.
"Well yeah, it infuriates me that he won without lifting a finger."
"He didn't have any fingers."
"You know what I meant! But the thing I said about wanting to protect you guys? That was more real than anything else. When we fought Samael that first time, I realised that I couldn't do anything and you guys were going to…. I thought… I thought I was gonna lose you all. I just wanted to be able to protect you, but I couldn't do it. Not with the power I had then at least. And I've just been freaking out thinking, 'if that happened again and you all died, and it was all my fault what would I do?'"
"You'd probably hit the gym and go back for round three." Riley laughed, shaking her head. There was silence for a moment as Zach breathed in the air. He could still smell traces of fire and sulphur from the battleground, but otherwise the air smelled like strawberries.
"You're the only person who gives me a chance these days," Riley said, tearing him from his reverie before he could get lost in it. "Well, you and Ash at least. I can't figure out how that makes me feel…." It took him a few seconds to think of something to say.
"You really don't know how cool you are sometimes, do you?"
"Oh really? The playground bully is also the cool kid? What is this, high school musical?"
"No, I'm serious! Actually, I feel terrible now! Here I thought you just wanted to pick a fight with Samael, but you were trying to protect us the whole time, no matter what we think of you! We've been doing gods know what, but you've been working and fighting the whole time just so you could look out for us. Honestly, I'm jealous of your resolve!"
"Protecting people is normal. It's what you're meant to do when somebody's in a jam."
"Yeah, well, some people don't really appreciate it that much…." Zach leaned on the wooden railing, and stared off into the distance. When it was quiet, he could still remember her face, and her words as he stood there, covered from head to toe in blood. Nobody was thanking him then….
"Well, I don't care who appreciates it," Riley said, leaning on the spot just next to him. "If nobody else cares, then I'll protect you, no matter what. You're… you're too weird for me to let you go that easily." Zach's breath caught in his throat, and he didn't understand why. He looked at her, but she wasn't even looking at him. She was now staring at a random hill in the distance.
She shivered, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Cold?"
"No. Just…. I guess those Samael doubles freaked me out more than I want to admit."
"Oh."
"And maybe I'm a little cold."
"Oh…." After ten seconds of calculated thought, Zach took of his jacket, expertly remade from the remnants of his old trench coat, and draped it around Riley's shoulders. He hesitated for a second, then placed his arm over shoulders, rubbing her arm reassuringly. He was sure that she would have punched him through the roof by now, but she must not have been lying about being spooked by the monsters because she didn't move. They stayed like that for a while in silence, just staring up at the sky as the first stars started to paint themselves into it.
And all the while, Reika had been watching from the strawberry fields, hidden from view when she realised they were busy, clutching a packet of marshmallows and a DVD….
Lower your pitchforks, please! I know, after leaving you with that devastating cliffhanger from last week, I can't just jump back to the others! Last we left Zodiac, he was bleeding out in the middle of the street! Well, as you can see, I kind of needed to get this chapter out somewhere before I reached the end of Part II, and next chapter (I think) we'll be going back to the others anyway, and maybe we'll see if they've all made it... or have been killed by a random meteor. Who knows? So, a moment of gratitude...
Thank you so very much to RockRoy for the follow and numerous reviews! It's not every day I get a whole chunk of reviews like that! Also, if you haven't checked it out yet, he's got a bunch of fanfic for various things, including a Percy Jackson story called 'Aces High', and I found it pretty fun! I would have reviewed it already but I've barely had the time to even read it lately, as I've already said... But I do recommend it! Plus, it updates every Saturday, so you can normally find it at the same time as my fic... give or take a few time zones of course! So, see you... whenever I guess!