I'm really tempted to just put this story on hiatus. Focus on my other story, you know? But I also don't want to, this is my favourite story so far.
When I came to again, I realised I was the first to open my eyes. Pegasus was on the ground beside me, unconscious. His wings were open as though he'd been trying to fly. I crawled to him and stroked his neck and could feel his steady breathing. He was alive, that was the good thing.
Mike, the adorable fella, was awake and growling at a group of men staring at them. They were shirtless and wearing loincloths. Their chests were bathed in sweat and covered with a film of marble dust. Crude cutting tools were in their hands as they stared and muttered quietly to themselves. If only they were speaking English, I could've asked for their help. Unfortunately, they weren't and I didn't speak Greek. Several pillars rose high above us, looking fresh and new, while others were still in the process of being built. It was different from Athens, when the pillars were either not there or crumbling down. Overhead the sun was shining brightly, and I could taste sea salt on my lips and hear the sea crashing around me from the bottom of the cliffs that surrounded them on three sides. Neptune's realm. I was relieved. At least Pegasus would be more in tune with his father's domain.
Speaking of which, he started to stir. He neighed softly and sat up. "Take it easy, Pegs," I whispered soothingly as I stroked him. "Nice and slow. We're here. We're at Cape Sounio."
My eyes darted to Joel, who was waking. As I crawled over to him, my eyes landed on an unwelcome sight. How was it possible? How was he here?
Agent B was sitting up and rubbing his head. He looked around in wonder. "My God, it worked!" The CRU agent jumped to his feet and ran off the edge of the temple floor and down to the rocky ground. He approached the cliff edge and raised his hands in the air triumphantly. "We're back on Earth!"
"What's he doing here?" Joel demanded as he wobbled unsteadily to his feet.
I shook my head. "I wish I knew." Glancing around, I saw the others were stirring. "Check on Paelen and Stella, would you?"
I stormed over to Agent B. "How did you get here?"
He grinned, unperturbed. "The same way you did, I suspect. Considering you were the one who brought us here."
"I didn't bring you!" I exclaimed, my hands flying.
"True," Agent B agreed. "I hitched a ride at the last minute."
"It was you!" I accused, my anger growing. "You were the one who hit me in the back just as we were leaving. You broke my concentration. We could have all been killed!"
"It was a risk worth taking," the agent said defensively. "Though you did recover quite well."
"Recover well?" I raged, barely containing my temper. "Are you insane? Look around you. We're here at the wrong time. We were supposed to arrive after the temple was built, not before. Why did you do it? Do you really want this to fail?"
The agent shook his head. "Just the opposite. I desperately need this mission to succeed, but it won't if I'm not here. I have experience and training in war situations."
"What war? We've arrived after the war. All I have to do is destroy the weapon and it's over. We didn't need you for that!"
"You can't be sure what you might encounter," Agent B said. "You need me; you just won't admit it. Why won't you accept my help?"
I shook my head. Was he being serious? "How can you expect me to trust you after everything you've done?"
"Desperation is a powerful motivator," Agent B said, brushing marble dust off his black jeans. "If we destroy that weapon, it will be like hitting a reset button. I'll be back in London, working at the CRU. You'll be back on Olympus, and none of this will have ever happened. We need never meet again."
"That will happen anyway, with or without your help." I snapped.
"You can't be sure of that," the CRU agent argued. "Not with Pegasus distracting you."
I gazed back at the temple. Pegasus was struggling to gain his feet on the smooth marble surface. I raised my hand and used my powers to lift him up. The stallion turned to me and nickered softly. I smiled back adoringly in return.
"See what I mean," Agent B said. "He's a distraction."
I faced the agent and my expression darkened. "Pegasus will never be a distraction. But you are! You make one move against us, and I swear it will be the last thing you ever do. Let's just get this over and done with."
"Agreed," Agent B said.
We walked back to the temple together. Stella was attempting to speak with some of the locals.
"What's he doing here?" Joel demanded.
I explained, and Joel was ready to kill Agent B. "I guess there's nothing we can do about it now. But you try one more trick like that…," Joel warned.
"I know," Agent B said, "you'll kill me. Emily has already made that threat perfectly clear."
Pegasus neighed softly.
"Just to make something clear though." He added. "How will you find more about your dear Persephone without me? I know things she hides from you, Emily. Your reaction to her stepfather made it very clear."
I… had no argument for that. He was right about her hiding things from me, and he was right about me wanting to know. So, I settled with glowering at him. He chuckled, knowing my answer.
Some of the construction workers were approaching Pegasus cautiously. I moved to Pegasus's side, ready to protect him, but when they set their eyes on me, they bowed their heads respectfully and smiled.
"I hardly believe this." Stella came back with more of the men. "They're very familiar with Zeus and all the gods. They have been visited by them. They truly believe in the gods and have accepted their presence on Earth. Our appearance here does not frighten them at all. They look at winged Pegasus as if they have always known him. Brue does not bother them!"
"Of course they accept us," Agent B said. "These people knew the Olympians were real. It's us in the modern age who stopped believing."
"But what did they say?" I asked impatiently. "Has Jupiter been here recently? Did they bury the weapon?"
"It is not good news," Stella said. "Zeus has never been here. These people hoped that if they built the temple to Poseidon, he would come and protect them from the Titans and their sea monsters."
"The war is still on?" Joel cried. I felt tempted to do the same. Curse you, Agent B! Oh Gods, Percy would be furious to hear such language coming from me.
Stella nodded. "Their language is different from mine. Very ancient. But from what I can understand, a large village not far from here was destroyed by the Shadow Titans a few days ago. Everyone is scared. They fear the Olympians have abandoned them."
"So the weapon isn't here?" I exclaimed.
"I don't think so."
"That's not good enough," I said, pacing furiously. "We have to be certain. Show me where you found the box."
Stella directed us to where her parents had pulled the golden box out of the rock. We were followed by the large group of construction workers.
"It was there," she pointed.
"Everyone, stand back," I warned, preparing myself. Using the Flame, I cracked opened the ground where the golden box had been found. I lifted huge chunks of solid rock and broke them up in the air until they were only dust.
"It's not here!" I repaired and replaced the rocks back in the ground. I shot an accusing eye at Agent B. "We're too early! If it hadn't been for you, we would have arrived at the right time and I could have destroyed that weapon by now."
"How was I supposed to know I would throw you off?" Agent B said defensively.
Unfortunately for me, I was prevented from saying more by a horrendous roar. It was coming from the sea.
Pegasus tried to rear and opened his wings.
The construction workers were the first to react. They threw down their tools and ran away from the temple. Mike started to growl and bark as he charged the edge of the cliff.
"Mike, come back!" I ordered. But the dog refused to obey. I had to use my powers to lift him from the cliff edge just as a huge tentacle crested the top and slammed down where Mike had been standing.
"What the…?" Joel gasped.
"It is a sea serpent," Paelen cried. "Everybody run!" He started to kick at Brue's thick neck. "Brue, you must move! It will devour us all!"
More of the huge sea monster appeared as it crawled over the cliff edge. It had many heads, each with a mouth full of sharp teeth that snapped and snarled at them. Its slimy grey body looked like a giant squid with at least eight long tentacles, which flipped and flew in the air, reaching for them. It was horrendous yet beautiful at the same time.
"It's the Hydra!" Joel shouted as he pushed Stella's wheelchair.
"That's not the Hydra," Stella corrected. "It's a sea serpent!"
"It doesn't matter what it's called!" Agent B yelled. "We'll be just as dead!"
As we ran, more sea monsters crested the far side of the cliff, blocking our escape.
"We're surrounded!" Joel yelled.
Faced on three sides by the huge, ferocious monsters, we huddled together. Joel grabbed a long pole from the construction site.
I raised my hands and the Flame flashed. Behind me, Paelen cried out as Brue dropped him to the ground. She rose up on her many legs. Suddenly the large, gentle creature threw back her two purple heads and howled in fury. Large, deadly teeth filled her mouths, and her eyes blazed red.
The Mother of the Jungle gave one last peek at Paelen before charging the closest sea serpent. As the serpent lunged forward to bite, one of Brue's heads flashed to the side and caught hold of one of the serpent's necks, tearing its head from the body.
On the ground, Paelen helped Stella over to a pile of uncut marble. They hid behind it while Paelen called instructions to us. "Do not just stand there, Emily—fire!"
Beside me, Agent B picked up a pole and tried shoving it into one of the mouths of the nearest monster. But the heads were quicker and avoided his jabs.
Sea serpents were everywhere. I didn't have time to think. Only react. I shot flames at the nearest one, but they had little effect beyond irritating the creature further.
I concentrated harder and transformed the raging flames into a laserlike beam. The creature attacking me rose up on its tentacles and prepared to lunge. I directed the laser beam and severed all the heads at once. In its dying rage, the sea serpent collapsed against the newly built columns of the temple and knocked them all down. No time to celebrate and cheer. As soon as I had killed that creature, another rose to attack.
"Emily, behind you!" Stella warned.
I swivelled in time to see sharp teeth plunging toward me. Reacting instantly, I cut the head off with my Flame and jumped to the side to avoid it as it hit the ground. I turned my powers on the body of the creature and it collapsed in a heap.
Pegasus was doing his best to fight, but the ageing stallion was no match for the giant sea serpent. Tentacles caught hold of one of the stallion's wings and hoisted him off the ground as sharp teeth bit deep into one of his rear legs.
No!
Just then, some… some creature came. It was like a horse, a jet black stallion, but the speed it had was unnatural, not to mention how lethal it was. It bit off the neck with a clean cut. The creature howled and dropped the stallion. Pegasus hit the ground a few feet from me and cried out in pain as the sea serpent fell to the ground, dead.
"Pegs!" I cried. But the horse didn't move. Instead, it just stared at me like I was the strange one instead of it, and ran off.
No time to care who that was, seeing Pegasus hurt drove me to rage. However, this time I knew what was at stake. Focusing my fury, I wielded the Flame perfectly, commanding it. The intensity of the Flame increased as I spun in a tight circle and fired everything I had at the attacking monsters. The air was filled with acrid smoke as their bodies burned. Howls and roars rose higher as all the sea serpents were cut down.
Stella was still hiding with Paelen behind the pile of marble. She only emerged after all the serpents were dead. She wheeled herself toward me but stopped short.
"Look!" she screamed, pointing at the cliff. More creatures were crawling over the top.
"Em, stop them!" Joel cried.
I had to change my tactic. Raising my hands, I lifted those things off the ground. Suspended high above the sea, they screamed and writhed as one. I used this opportunity to let loose a single blast of Flame that incinerated them all. A shower of ash was all that was left to drift back down into the sea.
Standing poised and ready for a third wave of sea serpents, I waited. But when none came, I ran over to Pegasus. Blood was flowing from the stallion's nose, but much worse than that, his back leg looked as if it had nearly been bitten off—there was blood everywhere. "Oh, Pegs." I trembled, hating how my Pegasus was hurt. "It's alright." I soothed as I reached out to heal him. "Just rest; it's over. They're all gone."
Pegasus whined and laid his head down. His sides heaved as he panted heavily. Once healed, he calmed and rested.
Agent B knelt down beside me. "How is he?"
"He'll be fine." I sat back on my heels and looked at the agent with new eyes. He was covered in serpent blood from the fight, and he hadn't been afraid to take on the ferocious monsters. "Thank you for helping us fight those things."
He nodded. "I told you, Emily. We're in this together. If we're going to survive, we must trust each other."
"It'll take a while, I won't lie. But I'll try." I answered honestly, still stuck on that creature. "Do you know what helped Pegs?"
"I'm afraid not. If I did, I would tell you, but I do not know of a creature who can run as fast as light." Agent B shrugged.
Behind us, Paelen cried, "Stop, please!" Brue had returned to him and started to lick him all over. "Please, Brue, I am unhurt; I do not need another bath!" He turned to me. "Help me, before she drowns me!" I rose shakily to my feet and walked over to the large Mother of the Jungle. Her heads and purple fur were covered in serpent blood. "He is fine, Brue. You protected Paelen perfectly."
Joel came up to her side. "Did you see what she became? She was just as ferocious as those monsters. I had no idea she could do that."
"Time on Xanadu has tamed her," I said, recalling what I had received from Arious. "On her old world she was a deadly predator. I just hope we get her back to Xanadu before she reverts fully to her old self." Before she attacks us.
"I'm just glad she's on our side."
I agreed, but then noticed his metal arm. It had a deep gouge and large tooth marks running along it. "Joel, your arm!"
"I know." Joel tried to fold back the metal over the exposed mechanisms. He flexed the arm and wiggled its fingers. Inside, we could see the pulleys and hydraulics working. "Well, it may not be pretty, but at least it still works. A sea serpent got hold of me and its teeth cut through the silver like it was butter. It would have killed me if Brue hadn't attacked it."
Joel lifted Paelen back onto Brue's neck. I was still shaking as she sat beside Pegasus. Mike lay down beside me and put his head in my lap.
"What were those things?" Joel asked.
Pegasus sat up and neighed. I wish I could understand you, Pegs. I wish I could.
"He believes they belong to the Titans," Paelen translated.
"The Titans?" Joel asked. I think Agent B mentioned them when talking about Percy. But why?
"Pegasus is right," Paelen said. "I am ashamed to say I could not fight. But Stella and I observed. All those serpents were trying to get at you, Emily. Everyone else was just in their way."
"Why me?" I rolled my eyes.
"Because you are the Flame of Olympus. Just as Olympians are drawn to you, the Titans are too. But their intentions are not as friendly. They will seek to control you. If that fails, they will try to destroy you."
"Everyone wants to control me!" I stood and my eyes fell on Agent B. "First it's you with the CRU, and now the Titans. If this is true, we've got to go. It's too dangerous to stay a moment longer. I'll use my powers to send us farther ahead in time. We'll come back here after the war."
"That works for me," Joel said. "If those serpents were with the Titans, I don't want to see what else they've got. Especially the Shadow Titans."
"I agree," Agent B said. "We must leave here now."
Pegasus remained on the ground. He nudged my legs and invited me to sit again before trying to tell them something.
Paelen dropped his head. "No, Pegasus, please. You must be mistaken."
"What is it?" I asked impatiently.
"Pegasus says we must remain here. He believes it is our destiny to stay and fight. The pottery from the museum proves it. Today's battle was depicted on the amphora you saw."
I recalled the pot. A girl dressed as an Olympian was firing flames at monsters. Then I looked over at Joel's torn-open arm, and Agent B, and finally to Mike lying beside her. His face was covered in blood from the monsters he'd fought. They were all depicted on the amphora. And of course that strange note that somehow Percy sent to me.
"I know what we saw at the museum, Pegs. But it's too dangerous for us to stay. We're not prepared to take on the Titans. That was never the plan."
"Pegasus is a very old Olympian," Paelen said. "He existed long before many of us. He knows a lot of the history of the Titanomachy."
"The what?" I asked, puzzled.
"The war with the Titans," Agent B explained.
"Yes," Paelen agreed. "Pegasus says his father spoke very little of the war. None of the Olympians who lived through it liked to talk about it. It was a dark time for us. But Neptune did once tell him of a power, more ancient than the Titans, that joined the battle at a critical moment. It changed the course of the battle and helped the Olympians defeat the Titans."
I looked at my best friend. "Pegs, what are you saying? That it was us?"
He nodded and neighed.
Paelen continued. "He says when you first mentioned travelling back in time, he considered the possibility that it was you. But then we planned to arrive after the war and he reconsidered. Now that we are here and have just defeated the Titans' serpents, Pegasus believes it is our destiny to stay. You, Emily, the last Xan, are the ancient power that helps the Olympians defeat the Titans."
A/n: who do you think the horse is? I'll give you a clue, neither sides know he is here