I'm back! Finally guys! Sorry about the wait, I just had a lot going on. But here we are, back again, so get comfortable and enjoy the chapter!

Again, I appreciate all the reviews, feel free to leave another and tell me your thoughts! I'd love to hear them!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, or Trials of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

9. Teleportation Is Like Running...Kinda

Matt

When I slept, I dreamt of a couple of things.

By now, I'm used to it. Oh, you fall asleep, and more than likely you're gonna have a vision. Just comes with the territory of being a demigod.

But what sucks is, most of the time we have no idea what the freaking visions are trying to tell us.

Okay, well one out of three. I understood one out of the three. But that doesn't help. Maybe if it was two out of three, I wouldn't complain.

First, early on in the night, I guess, I dreamt of Zeus facing Ouranos.

It was right in the middle of the throne room, on Olympus, just the two of them. I saw no sign of the other gods ever being there, or even fighting Ouranos. No ichor, and no weapons. However, all of the thrones were destroyed, completely unrecognizable clutters of rubble on the marble floor.

The roof had been split open, revealing a gray sky and allowing raging wind to enter, blowing both combatants' hair wildly.

They stood about twenty feet apart from each other, unmoving, and glaring. Zeus's face was a bit harsher, and more serious. He had his Master Bolt drawn, fist clenched around it, and his jaw was tight. While Ouranos, on the other side, was fully grown, not his usual child-like self, or teenage self, if my timeline is correct. I found it oddly disturbing. Had he matured completely while being in Japan?

Zeus and Ouranos didn't say a word to each other, and for several seconds, maybe hours, just stood there, locked in a silent battle of will. Finally, the moment of truth came. Both of them lunged at each other, disappearing in dual flashes of lightning.

There was only one clash. Not a series of blows, not a back and forth of weapon exchanges, but one powerful clash that decided it all.

When the dust settled, and the light faded. I was horrified by the image in my vision.

Zeus was on his knees, ichor being drained from his mouth. Above him, Ouranos stood tall, holding the Heavenly Diamond spear casually...as it pierced through Zeus's chest.

The same way he killed my dad...

I made a noise almost akin to a gasp when Zeus turned to look at me, weakly reaching his arm out.

"M-Matt...help me...please..."

I shouted something incoherent, and began running towards him, my own arm appearing in front of me. But just as I got close to him, Ouranos, faster than I could follow, yanked the spear out and slashed at me with it.

That's where the vision ended.

Then the next one came along, maybe an instant later, or an hour later. I had no idea. It was hard to remember the time stamps.

But in this second vision, I actually saw another familiar face. My older counterpart. The one trapped on a dying world, forced to fight Ouranos for eternity. He was the one that gave me my Master Bolt. It was his before hand.

He sat on a large rock, in the middle of the vast, open desert, staring up at the sky. Like he suddenly noticed me, he turned, and locked brown eyes with my own, an identical set. It was like I was literally looking at my future. That's how I felt every time I saw him. It felt like a magical mirror, showing me what I might become.

And I wouldn't mind it at all. He looks great. Huge, powerful, healthy, and even sporting a nice, trimmed beard to match. Not to mention three Heavenly Diamond weapons, which still blows my mind.

But one thing I never, ever want to share with him, is his fate. His situation horrifies me. Watching Ouranos kill everyone you love, all of my friends, the ones that I know, and even Harper...

All because of a wrong decision. The decision that I still had no idea what would be.

Old Matt spoke to me, about that very topic. "When the time comes, you must make the right decision."

In this one, I could actually speak. "But what is it?"

"Remember what I told you." He said, "Make the right choice. Don't become like me."

"No...I don't want that."

"It can happen. As easily as anything else. With one word...it can happen to you too."

I felt myself being sucked away from him, inside an invisible vortex. I reached out to grab onto something, or for his hand, but he never made a move, and I fell backwards in a void of darkness.

The third vision came.

I found myself standing in Manhattan, or...what I guessed to be Manhattan. Right now it looked like a wasteland. All of the buildings had been destroyed, any cars that had been on the road were gone, and worst of all...no mortals. Killed, most likely.

There was nobody around, it was only me. In my hand, I held my Master Bolt.

I stared at it for a second, wondering what this meant. What was I supposed to do? Stand here? Walk around?

I knew this one was a vision, like a lucid dream, I could control my movements, fully aware of everything. However, abruptly, something else began to take over my body.

I had absolutely no control. Out of nowhere, my hand outstretched, and shifted grips with the Bolt, so that the attacking end was pointed...towards me.

Towards my chest.

I screamed as my arm shoved the bolt into my chest, against my will. Once the electricity singed my skin, I woke up.

In a sweat. I shot up to a sitting position and looked around, like I'd been put under for half a day in surgery, that or deeply submissed for hypnosis therapy.

Hypnosis therapy, do I even know that that is? Geez, Annabeth is rubbing off on me.

When I finally noticed I wasn't about to die from Master Bolt degree burns, I calmed down. Kyros was next to me, still sleeping, the sun had risen high already, probably meaning it was...noon, maybe a little earlier.

I sighed, and rubbed the sweat from my forehead. "Wonder if they make anti-vision medicine for demigods..." I muttered, chuckling to myself.

"I'm afraid they do not."

I didn't have to look far to see Zeus walking up next to me, "I take it you didn't sleep well?"

I yawned, but overall felt pretty amped. "Nah, I slept fine. Just a couple of visions." I glanced at the sky again, "What time is it?"

"Late morning." Zeus said, "I figured I would let you sleep in today, considering how quickly you caught on to telepathy. You actually gave yourself a bit of leeway for that, so good job."

"Gee, thanks. Not sure how. I guess I've just always been good at aura control."

"Better than good." Zeus praised. "You're a prodigy at it."

It made me feel good to hear that, but then I fell back into dread from those visions. Zeus noticed.

"What were your visions about?"

"Well...the first one was you and Ouranos, standing in the throne room. You guys clashed once, and he...stabbed you with that spear of his. You reached out to me and asked me to help you."

Zeus nodded grimly, "I see."

I decided to skip the one about Old Matt for some reason, probably because I didn't want to go in depth about this decision I'd have to make. Zeus wouldn't know what to make of it either, so it would be pointless.

The last one though, I wanted him to know about, because that's the one I didn't understand at all. "I had another one where I actually stabbed myself in the chest with the Master Bolt. I mean, can you believe that? Why would I dream about killing myself?"

I heard nothing from him, and looked up to see a surprised expression on his face. It took me off guard, because I expected him to just nod and throw it off, but no...he actually looked worried about that.

"Well, I'm afraid I cannot help you understand them." He quickly said, averting his gaze. "Maybe in time, their true meaning will be revealed to you."

"I guess." I shrugged, "So what are we gonna do today?"

Zeus seemed glad to change the subject. "Today, I'm going to teach you how to teleport."

At that, I got excited, and stood up rather quickly. "Really? Oh, that's so cool!"

"As you probably know, teleportation, like telepathy, is a god's ability. But, with extensive training, it can be learned by a demigod. Your friend Malachi can do it, yet he isn't a god. He uses lightning as the spark, and while that is effective, you're going to do it another way."

I nodded. Seemed easy enough to understand. "Sounds good."

"The first step is to ignite your aura." He said, "You will always need the Red Aura to teleport. Remember that."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because what you're doing is deconstructing yourself on the atomic level, moving your body parts and atoms through space and time, towards another location. It's best to have all of your aura ready to go and braced. Rather than at your weakest."

I didn't completely understand what he was saying when it came to the atomic stuff, but I think I got the gist of it.

"Now, enter the Red Aura state."

I did as instructed. Like breathing, or walking, I willed the powerful red glow to appear around me. When it burst forth, Zeus nodded.

"Good. Now, I want you to break it apart into small pieces slowly. It must be slow for the first time, or you could accidentally kill yourself."

"What? Would my lifeforce be drained?" I guessed.

"No. Your body would just spread into a million pieces, unable to reconnect."

That wasn't very comforting.

I inhaled a deep breath, focusing hard on my aura. Well, it might've been a good thing he told me that, because now I know I can't mess up. Don't want to turn into a plate of Matt bites.

"Once you break it apart, push it forward." Zeus said. "But not too far, just in front of you. Traveling too far on the first attempt is also dangerous."

"Thanks." I grumbled. "Really boosting my confidence here."

"Just making sure you don't die." Zeus made a noise, like he'd forgotten something. "Oh, and when you get to your intended location, put your pieces of aura back together slowly. Or else-"

"I'll die." I interrupted. "Got it."

"Yes. Now good luck!"

I did as he said, starting out at my head and smashing through my aura carefully, like chiseling away at a stone statue. I went from there and down to my toes as carefully as possible. Around me, I could visibly see the red aura losing its fullness, and breaking in cracks.

"Don't get distracted!"

I shook my head. He's right, one wrong move and I'm toast. I resumed, pushing my aura out, a bit like the telepathy, only this time I had to make every single little fragment move at the same time. It was tough, because every fragment felt like all of my aura. So technically I was moving millions of full sized aura particles.

I started shaking from the effort, but saw that the jumble of red had made it about five feet from me, and completely left my body.

I shouldn't have, but I glanced down at my current form, and nearly fell out on the ground when I looked like a ghost.

I had become nearly transparent, resembling a hologram more than a human. I started to shout that something was wrong, when Zeus drowned me out.

"It's normal! Think nothing of it! Focus, Matt!"

I gulped down my panic and somehow managed to keep going. Finally, the aura fragments reached a point that I felt comfortable with, and I released them. The tension left.

When it did, I was brought forward, rapidly and abruptly. Like someone had yanked me as hard as they could with a harness. I lurched forward, back arched in a C shape.

It took not even a millisecond to get there, probably way faster, but I had no idea how to even measure the speed my aura made me travel. Once I entered it again, the process reversed itself. My aura stood outside of me, and I had to put them all back together like a game of operation.

Staring at what seemed like billions of glass shards, with the task of putting them all back in place perfectly...is really daunting.

But nether the less, I gulped down my nervousness and reached out with my hands.

"They're shaking." Zeus warned, seeing something I didn't. "Your hands. You need to control them."

I only noticed when my stare narrowed. My hands were trembling. Oh man, at this rate I'll lose one of the fragments and die!

"What do I do?" I said, doing my best not to panic again.

"Picture it as a puzzle for now. Just for a moment, forget that your life is at stake, and treat it as a game. Be calm, and match the pieces to their place."

"Picture it as a game?!" I cried, "But I thought I wasn't supposed to do that!"

"I know! But you're getting too scared. You need to calm down. This is a good method for that. Just take a moment and visualize that the fragments are puzzle pieces. Don't make a move until you can see them."

I tried, but they never shifted appearance. I only saw them as aura fragments that I would put in the wrong place.

"I don't think I can do it..."

"Trust me, Matt!" Zeus urged. "Try it! Focus!"

It was tough, but I did as he said, and remembered back when I was younger, probably really small, when Mom would buy me those little puzzles. I was never good at them, and hardly showed any interest, but it was the only thing I really had to go off of.

So I closed my eyes and did my best to replace the red aura with puzzle pieces. Big plastic pieces with half an animal on them. After getting a clear picture in my head, I opened my eyes.

I was surprised to find that the aura fragments now looked like those puzzle pieces. I mean, obviously I wasn't hallucinating, they didn't actually change appearance completely, but in the back of my mind, I could see them as something else. Because in that moment, I didn't believe they were aura fragments anymore. My life wasn't in danger. It's just...a game. A little game, that's all.

I held up my palms, and smiled when I saw them sitting still, no trembles.

"Alright, let's get to work."

I reached out and began the process of putting them back where they belonged. If I didn't think a piece matched up, I would hold it to the spot and compare edges. If it was a no go, I just kept looking.

This went on for about ten minutes, which is longer than I wanted it to take. I wasn't sure if this thing had a time limit or not. If I took too long, would I just become transparent forever? Get lost in the teleportation realm?

No, no, don't think like that. Only think about the game. If it was taking too long, Zeus would tell me. I'm fine, I've got more time.

I had stopped looking to him entirely at about the halfway point, and focused completely on the puzzle. I'll admit, it wasn't as hard as you'd expect, but the problem was that there were so many of the fragments, it just took forever to put them all back.

But finally, after another ten minutes, I managed to gently shove in the last piece, and my aura was back to normal. I lost my transparency, and became solid again, with a full red glow around me.

Zeus nodded, smirking. "Very good. You put them all back in place without a single mistake."

"Yeah, but I took twenty minutes to do it." I grumbled, snorting out of my nose in frustration and kicking the sand lightly. I wanted to get all of this stuff down pat, as quickly as possible. I know I keep saying it, but it drives me crazy to not know what's going on with my friends. If they're in trouble or not.

"I just want to get everything perfect by the time I leave." My thoughts had spilled out into speech without me meaning for it to. Zeus heard.

He sighed and came over to me. As he walked, I dissipated my aura and returned to my normal state.

"Matt, you need to stop setting such high expectations for yourself. Stop worrying about the others, and have faith. Just have faith that they're okay. Focus on the training. You're doing very well."

"Am I?"

"Of course. It's impressive that you didn't put a fragment in the wrong place at least once. Most people in your situation would have, but you kept calm, and had patience. Patience is a key component in battle. The simplest things can often save our lives, even something as mundane as stepping back and taking a scan of the battlefield. Seeing how the tide is turning, or how your men are doing, where to place warriors, finding a weak spot, placing the position of the leader...you can have so many good outcomes from an easy movement."

"Yeah...you're right."

"Don't sound so unsure of yourself. It's only all the more impressive that you're undertaking this training as a mortal. It's ten thousand times harder than if you were a god."

That made me rethink my decision for half a second, but I regained my no-godhood resolve quickly. Doesn't hurt to be curious.

"Man, it would've been that easy?"

"Not easy per say, but most certainly easier. You would take in information and pick up techniques in half the time."

My eyes widened. "Whoa. Maybe I messed up, huh?"

"Nonsense." I was surprised to hear Zeus say that, considering you know, he's the leader of the whole god thing. I figured he would be like a street side preacher giving the gospel of godhood out to everyone he could find.

He saw my expression and nodded, "Sure, if it were up to me, I would prefer you became a god, but that's your choice. I can't stop you from that, and I wouldn't dare try. I respect your decision. You should never be ashamed to stand up for what you believe in."

"As long as it's not evil, right?" I half-joked, but Zeus fired back quickly.

"Even then."

"So Ouranos is respectable? Cause' he sort of stands up for what he believes in all the time. I've never seen that psycho shy away from making a point."

"Ouranos believes in nothing. He doesn't fight for anything but himself. He only wants power, and to see everyone else other than he perish." Zeus lifted a finger, "It may be disguised as belief, but it's not. Don't get the two mixed up."

"Okay." I looked away from him, worried that I made him mad. I might've, but I wasn't trying to defend Ouranos or anything, I was just curious. I redirected the subject, "So, do you ever wonder what life would've been like as a mortal, Grandfather?"

"No." His answer was immediate. "Being a god is all that I know, and all I could ever want."

I pointed at him, then at myself, smiling. "And that's exactly how I feel."

He chuckled. "I understand. Now, let's get back to it. Try the technique again, and shoot for fifteen minutes at the maximum this time."

Just as he said, I repeated the process again and again, shaving off a couple of minutes every time I did it. With each attempt, I got better. I was faster in putting the pieces back, and I even began to memorize the shapes and patterns, and increased my distance.

I spent the rest of the day doing it, hundreds of times, over and over, and by the time the sun began to set, I had narrowed the time frame down to a single second. I had actually gotten so used to it, that I could control my aura fragments simultaneously and put them back into place all at once, not even having to use my hands to grab them.

The teleportation was basically complete. It looked just like how you would expect. I disappeared in a burst of red, and reappeared an instant later wherever I could see, or someplace I'd been before, just like Malachi.

Zeus even clapped a couple of times. "Splendid. This has been a very, very productive day, Matt. To end it off, I want you to take Kyros across the ocean until you can no longer see the Island. Then teleport off his back and in front of me. Do you think you can do it?"

I looked towards the ocean, gauging the distance that would probably be. Miles upon miles, probably. But...I felt pretty confident in myself now. After doing it so many times.

I nodded at him, determined. "Yeah, I think I got it."

"Good. Go on, then. I'll be waiting."

Kyros sat upright next to Zeus, and I turned to him, using telepathy to speak. It was still going to take a little bit to get used to hear Kyros's voice.

Alright, bud, you know what to do.

Kyros turned and matched my previous gaze to the water, then back at me. I could've swore he was raising a feathered eyebrow.

There isn't another volcano beyond the horizon, is there? He said dryly.

I waved a dismissive hand. No, no, of course not. Gosh, you're still hung up on that?

Too hot. And I don't like dragons.

What, you think there's a dragon in every volcano?

When I was a young bird, there were dragons everywhere!

I walked over and hopped on his back. Well, there isn't one here, I promise. Now take off! We gotta get to the other side!

Kyros cawed out loud and bent down. I tightened my grip on his neck and his torso with my legs, considering he wasn't wearing his saddle at the moment.

We took off. Kyros jumped in the air, soaring at the top of the sky without even flapping his wings once. We settled into a fast groove, going straight through the few clouds that occupied the blue ceiling.

How far do you wish to go?

I looked back. We'd already gotten far, but I could still see the island in the distance. Just until I can't see the island. I'll tell you when to stop.

Glancing down at the clear, light blue water, I sighed happily. Man, what I would give to just jump right in and swim for a bit. It's the cold time of the year on the outside, but here? It feels just like summer.

Hey, Kyros. I got the eagle's attention.

Yes, young master?

Could you get closer to the water, I want to put my hand in.

Of course.

Kyros gently changed direction and slowly glided towards the ocean. When he got close enough, he tilted himself so my hand would reach the calm waves. I bend down and placed my hand right on the cool feeling.

It was perfect. It immediately refreshed my skin, little droplets bounced up and landed on my face and arms, making it all the better.

I enjoyed the feeling for a few seconds, then remembered the task at hand. As fast as we were going, the island was probably long gone by now.

Alright Kyros, make a slow stop and turn around.

He did as instructed. We slowed down to a stationary position and faced the direction of the island. It was nonexistent now. I couldn't see a thing but clouds and water.

I took in a deep breath. I hadn't teleported at this kind of distance yet. In order to land in a spot you've been to before, Zeus told me you have to picture it clearly in your mind, and not even for one second, can you get distracted. You can't think of anything else other than the location. If it gets messed up...well, you could end up with half your body in the ocean, or ending up hundreds of feet in the air.

I stood up straight on Kyros's back and thought of nothing but the island. The sand, the trees, the light patches of green grass. I pictured it from an ariel view, like a helicopter taking pictures from above, a mound in the middle of the ocean.

When I got it to stick, I took that as my chance. I removed my aura from myself like I'd done so many times today, and pushed it towards the island.

The process took less than a millisecond, or even less, because as soon as I pushed my aura out, I was sucked from Kyros and towards the island. There wasn't even time to see anything around me, because I reappeared right in front of Zeus in an instant.

Then put my aura back together just as quick, and voila, I did it.

Zeus saw me, and folded his arms, impressed.

"Very good." Was all he said, before walking off, "With that, we're done for the day. Get plenty of rest, I have something else prepared for you tomorrow."

"Alright. Good night, Grandfather."

He didn't say anything, he just returned the bid with a nod, and disappeared into the trees.

A few minutes later, Kyros came back. The Eagle landed right next to me and asked if there was anything else to do for the day. I told him no, and he promptly laid on the ground, falling to sleep.

I just snickered. That bird is something else. One of the most capable creatures I'd ever seen, yet if you didn't know him, you'd think he was lazy.

Despite sleeping in today, I yawned. My eyes were getting droopy, probably due to all the extensive, repetitive training. That's one definite perk to it; it helps you sleep like a baby.

But before I drifted off, I took the time to sit on the sand and stare up at the stars. Artificial or not, they were beautiful. I must've glanced at each one before imagining something else even more beautiful. Tied up raven hair that smelled like the sweet scent of lavender, a soft hand in mine, and that smile that only seemed reserved for me.

If I concentrated hard enough, it was almost like she was here with me.

"In ten years, you see me in your life? You think we'll still be together, even then?"

"Of course I do."

"Whenever you came along, everything changed."

"Everything changed for me too." I whispered.

Maybe I couldn't picture the next ten years, what that would even begin to look like, but I just hope that she's still by my side. That they're all by my side.

"I'll be there soon, guys. I promise."

With that, I was out like a light.

When I woke up, I felt funny.

Not sick or anything, but in my drowsiness, I could swear it felt like I was being buried alive. That, or slowly falling into quicksand.

I heard a noise next to me, and turned to see Kyros sitting there, it almost sounded like he was...laughing.

Oh, young master! He was actually laughing, and trying his best to keep it together. I got you good!

I didn't know what he was talking about until I tried to get up, and found that I couldn't. I was trapped. Everything from the neck down.

Looking down, where my body should've been, sat only sand.

Kyros had buried me while I was asleep. Pulling the classic beach prank.

Are you serious? What the hell did you do that for?! And...when?!

I woke up before you did, so I decided to have a little fun. Hah, I don't know how you didn't wake up.

Dude, it's not funny!

It's kind of funny.

By that time, Zeus must've sensed I was awake, and came around the corner from the trees, his eyebrows furrowing once he saw me. Great, he's going to think I'm an idiot now. Not taking this training seriously.

"I-I can explain!"

"Matt." He sounded more confused than disappointed. "Why on Earth did you bury yourself in the sand?"

"I didn't!" I protested, "It was Kyros!"

Zeus looked at the bird, and Kyros shook his head, trying to shift the blame.

You're not even going to accept responsibility?! I shouted at him through telepathy, Kyros only laughed.

Zeus shook his head, "Well, whatever the case, get out of there, we have more work to do."

My face got red. He totally believed that I did it to myself. I glared at Kyros as I pushed my way out of the predicament, sand covering me from head to toe.

"Agh! It's all over my clothes!" I was caked with sand, all over. Let me tell you, getting sand in your pants absolutely sucks.

I took my shirt off and tried to shake it, but the sand went nowhere. It was pointless.

"Grandfather, I haven't had a single shower since I've been here. Is there any way I could...I don't know, clean myself? Maybe get a fresh pair of clothes?"

"No. We have training to do."

"But I'm sticky and disgusting! There's sand all over me!"

"Well, you shouldn't have buried yourself in the ground!"

"I DIDN'T! KYROS DID!"

Kyros watched on with amusement, absolutely losing it in my head with laughter. Oh just wait, I'll get you back, fuzzball.

Zeus groaned, "Fine! Fine! By the gods, you're so whiney. I suppose I can't be surprised though; you are a teenager..."

"Hey!" I protested. But before I could even listen for a response, Zeus snapped his fingers and a wet bar of soap appeared in midair, just above my head. I aimed to catch it, but Zeus surprised me by controlling it with telekinesis or something, and darting it around.

It made contact with my skin, and he made that thing go a million miles per hour. It scrubbed me and scrubbed me until it felt like my skin was going to fall off. The sand came off minutes ago, and had been replaced with foamy, thick soap.

Zeus snapped his fingers again and the bar disappeared. Facing his palm towards the water, blue aura scooped up a few gallons and separated the salt from the liquid. Quickly, he brought it over to me like a crane on a construction site, then at the last moment, dumped it on me.

I got completely soaked, and all of the soap fell down my body onto the sand. I was clean, but drenched.

"Well, thanks. I guess-" Before I could finish the sentence, a powerful gust of wind hit me like a truck, nearly knocking me over. It kept up until I was completely dry.

And dry I was, actually too dry, if that's even possible after getting soaked with a bucket of Zeus water. I reached up to flatten my now frizzled hair.

"Wow, now that's a shower."

Even Kyros was impressed. Not bad.

"Honestly, how frivolous." The god king grumbled, "Mortals and their showers. You have to think Matt, not every battle will end in a day. It could easily turn into a war. Wars can last weeks, even months. You don't have time to shower when the Titan army is trying to kill you every second of the day."

"I think you're getting a little carried away."

"Why, I didn't bathe for three weeks when Kronos was on the run!" He laughed loudly.

I scrunched my nose. "I bet that was...quite the smell."

"Oh, it was." Zeus seemed to be remembering it fondly, which I found to be a little weird. "Why, one time he and I fought for three days straight. You should've smelled me then! Ha! What a horrible scent!"

I shook my head, not at all wanting to imagine that smell.

"Wait, you guys fought multiple times? I thought you fought once and killed him."

"Not every battle is engraved in myth. We fought many battles, back when I was younger and weaker. Like Typhon, I had many tough opponents, and Kronos was very tough."

"But three days? How'd it end?"

"Stalemate. He retreated."

Sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall to witness some of this stuff. These legendary battles. But then again, that probably wouldn't be a good idea. The energy alone would kill me.

"Anyway-" Zeus started, "-Enough of that. Today, we're going to move on to the next technique."

"What's that?"

"Actually the shower thing falls perfectly into what we're going to do." He pointed to the ocean. "Did you see what I did with the water?"

"You controlled it."

"With what?"

"...Telekinesis?"

"Don't say it as a question. It's yes or no."

"Okay, then it was telekinesis."

"That's right. It was."

I beamed, "You're gonna teach me telekinesis?"

"Yes. You'll be able to control objects, people, and more, with your mind. Moving up in weight, size, and number as we go."

"I'm guessing it has to do with aura manipulation."

"It has everything to do with aura manipulation. Most techniques do. So this shouldn't be much trouble for you. It won't be hard for you to control something, but once weight and amount increases, that's where the difficulty begins."

I stood firm, "I'm ready. How do I do it?"

"Step by step. First step, lock onto the target with your aura. Encase it, just like you would if you were aiming to steal energy. Then, move your aura. When you do, the object will move with it. It's as simple as that."

"Simple as that? Alright, so what should I control?"

"Kyros."

At that, Kyros heard him, and perked up. Shaking his head wildly.

Tell him no! Tell him no! I don't want to be lifted!

Zeus laughed, "Ha! Got you good, bird! That's payback for burying Matt in the sand! No, no, we won't be using him. We'll use a cube."

At that, I felt sweat start to form on my head. "Uh, you don't mean the same cube that I had to carry up the mountain, do you?"

"Yes, the very same."

I gulped. Oh shit...

Zeus chuckled, "Joking. No, not that one."

"Wow, you're in a really jovial mood today." I half grumbled, but it was cool to see him let loose and crack a funny for once.

"Physical strength has little to do with telekinesis. It is all in mental strength, and willpower. Aura manipulation is the conduit to control an object, once you're there, it is completely up to fortitude of the mind."

"So I have to build that strength from the ground up." I guessed, "Start from scratch?"

"Well, you would if you were a newborn, or a brain-dead individual. Everyone has some level of mental strength. Given previous training, trauma, combat experience, and learning to control your anger, you have incredible mental strength. This will give you a good head start in learning telekinesis."

"Oh, so I'll be able to lift heavy stuff?"

"Heavy is a spectrum. Sure, you will, but I'm not looking for you to be good at this, I want you to be remarkable. We will go as far as we can in one day."

He snapped his fingers, and a large metal cube appeared in the air, right in front of me. Maybe six feet long and wide, dark silver in color.

"Lock on to it with your aura."

I nodded. Just like stealing energy, I locked onto the cube, and immediately felt it's weight. It was light, and the resistance was all over my body, not fighting against my limbs. It's hard to explain, because you might imagine it gives you a headache, and while it did put a little bit of pressure on my head, it was everywhere else too.

But it didn't hurt. It was just like someone poking me.

Zeus must've let go of his own control, because he asked me, "Do you feel it?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Brace yourself, because I'm going to add more weight to it. Let me know when it gets heavy."

Without moving his hands, he began adding weight by the ton. At first, it was nothing, I easily kept control of the cube. But maybe a minute or so later, it began to get pretty rough, and then twenty seconds after that, my arms started shaking. I reached my breaking point.

"It's heavy! Stop!"

Zeus stopped, and I held the cube. Man, I probably should've let him know sooner, I didn't really want to struggle that much with this, but I would get better results with a heavier cube.

"Move it around a bit. Back and forth, side to side, whichever, just get used to it."

I did as he said, resisting the urge to place my hands in front of me. That would no absolutely nothing, but I always associate telekinesis with hand movement, when really, that has little to do with it.

So I stood still and focused hard on the cube, staring a hole through it. I willed it to move to the right a few feet, and it did, then to the left, and it followed my request. I then placed it on the sand, relieving a huge chunk of the weight, and then lifting it back in the air, the weight returning.

After a few minutes, Zeus put up his hand. "Alright, hold it still."

I stopped.

"Now, I'm going to add more weight, until it becomes too much and you have to release."

I wanted to tell him that I sort of already reached my limit, but I said nothing, and just waited for the pain to begin.

Zeus focused his gaze on the cube, and the already heavy weight became unbearable. Then the headache came. Huh, so I guess it actually does happen.

Finally the weight surpassed my limits, and I let it go, causing it to slam on the sand.

The grains shot in the air like a bomb had been dropped from the sky. I breathed heavily and wiped sweat from my brow. "Damn!"

"Okay, now we have a limit." Zeus said. "Stay in your normal state for now, then we'll move up to Red Aura."

"How about I try it now?" I said, without even waiting for permission. I locked on to the cube again and activated the red aura. It burst open around me and I lifted the cube with ease, shooting it high in the air at the speed of light. It reappeared hundreds of feet up as a gray dot. Seeing it, I smiled at the accomplishment. Red aura really amps it up, like an entire new world. And then there's imbuing the Master Bolt on top of that! The cube would feel like a feather then!

Zeus shouted, annoyed. "Matt! That's enough!"

All of a sudden a weight was placed on the cube that even the Red Aura couldn't handle. I had no clue what it could be, but I'd imagine an ungodly amount of tons on the scale, because that cube fell from the sky at enhanced speed. Not just gravity, but as if something were forcing it down.

I dissipated my aura and the cube plummeted, smacking the sand once again.

"Sorry...bout...that." I apologized, exhausted now. Probably shouldn't have done that. Stupid. I got ahead of myself.

"Be patient. We'll get to that. For now, stay in your normal form and build it up."

"Got it. I'm sorry."

"Okay. Let's continue!"

For the rest of the day, I trained telekinesis. Half was spent in my normal state, and then the other half in the red aura state. I got the hang of it pretty good; I won't lie. Even with the weight that Zeus had added on, that become nothing over time. The training simulation did its work with the way time works on it. An hour can equate to much longer on the outside, meaning that I picked up all of this seemingly quick, when really, it's longer.

Towards dusk, Zeus stood in front of me. "Alright Matt, I want to see you put it all together. Teleportation and telekinesis, as fast as you can."

I had gotten tired. In fact, today was probably the most tired I'd been so far, even more so than carrying that cube up the mountain. I'd used up so much of my aura controlling this cube, I'd gained a constant headache, and along with that, soreness all over. It would go away over night, but for right now, giving it my all and showing off to Zeus sounded nearly impossible.

But I'd do it anyway. He's investing as much time into this as I am, of course he wants to see results.

I took in a deep breath and prepared to go all out.

I counted down to three, and began.

I teleported all over the island. Zapping away in thin air and reappearing, boom, boom, boom, with rapid succession, faster than the trained eye could spot. Faster than probably a god's eye could spot, it was picoseconds, measures of time so small that it doesn't even compute.

By maybe the second go round, I'd already formed craters all across the small island and then some.

"Teleknesis! Go!" Zeus said, switching it up.

I switched immediately, blinking into existence after my latest and locking onto the cube with ease, lifting it up and turning, throwing my arm like I'd pitched a baseball. The cube flew past and soared across the horizon, covering miles of distance in a single second, sailing away and disappearing from view a second later.

"Pull it back!"

I guess I'd given into the notion of using your hand, but like I said, it makes no difference. You're using your mind. But you know me, I tend to be pretty flashy. I mean, I named one of my attacks for Olympus' sake. I closed my fist and yanked it back. The gray dot that was the cube came back into view and then blurred over to the area above my head. With my will, it stopped abruptly, and sat still.

I glanced over my shoulder to gauge Zeus's reaction, and he looked impressed.

"Not bad at all, Matt. Even without the Red Aura, you can move a heavy object with great speed, and teleport with incredible ferocity."

"Thanks." I let go of the cube, and it fell into one of the craters I'd made while teleporting. "So, I have a question."

"What's that?"

"If I want to control more than one object, or teleport more people than myself, what do I do?"

"Unfortunately, we don't have enough time to master that. I had to make sure you got the basics down above all else. And you've mastered that with remarkable time. To run, you have to walk, and that means teleporting yourself before others, and moving one object before another. But as far as that goes, it's a similar mechanic. Teleporting. You would break apart your own aura, along with the number of your choice."

"Wait, so I have to break apart other people's auras? Like...forcibly?"

"Yes. But don't worry about the difficulty of placing everyone's auras back one by one, at your level now, you'll be able to feel the fragments' presence and where they go. Like how you do now with your own."

I nodded. Yeah, over the course of the day, I'd gotten used to feeling out the different edges of the fragments and their places, able to match them up mentally, without a visual picture.

But with more than myself...that seems a little difficult. Maybe I wouldn't have to worry about it though, because Malachi usually does the teleporting others thing. But you know, that makes me think back on all the times that he did something like that, back In Scandinavia noticeably, when he teleported the entire freaking army up the mountain. That's insane that he can do that. He's really mastered this thing, while I'm just beginning.

I wasn't sure that I got it one hundred percent, but I nodded to move along. "Okay, feel out the presence. Got it."

"And telekinesis is the same. Actually easier. You lock onto more targets, and control them simultaneously. The only difficulty will be with weight."

"Gotcha. But Grandfather, why won't we have time to train on any of this? We have tomorrow, don't we?"

"Yes, but that's the last day. I have something else planned for you. Something more important." His tone brokered no argument, and it caught me off guard. "You can advance your telekinesis and teleportation outside of the simulation."

I wasn't sure what he had planned for me that could be more important, but I trusted him. Whatever it was, must be huge. He probably saved the best for last.

"Okay. I'll be ready first thing tomorrow."

"Good. And Matt-"

"Yeah?"

"-If you have any more visions, tell me everything. It could be vital to our survival. Even if you don't understand it, I must know. Got that?"

I gulped. "Yeah, I understand."

(000)

That's chapter nine, guys. Hope you enjoyed it!

Be ready for the next one, it's gonna be good!

Until Next Time.