In one stormy night, in front of the Palace of Taiki, the thunder clap and strong wind made a loud sound, as the King noticed a crying and whining sound outside the door and then he slowly opened the door.

               He saw a child only a week old in the palace door step a voice echoing in the wind “Take care of the child, I warn you this child is a demigod, daughter of Hephaestus, and she will be given a big choice that will change her life forever. She will be given the chance to live in Olympus and be an immortal goddess in her favor.” it said.

                The King took the child in his arms and named her Natasha Chase of the raging fire knowing her powers were fire since her father Hephaestus was the god of fire. As years passed she got control over her powers, she had everything, riches, servants, nice clothes, delicious food, and lots of things but she didn’t have what she wanted the most love, care, and freedom.

                 Natasha grew never knowing what true happiness is, she never smiled and laughed, she never showed her feelings to anyone not even to her father. She was like a mountain immovable, hard, and strong but in the inside it was filled with emeralds and diamonds. The doors of her heart were closed and locked all anger, sadness, excitement, happiness, and all other feelings were locked inside. She was like a living doll never changing expressions and never revealed them.

                 Let us begin in one sunny day, Natasha was staring at her window as she looked her sparkling green eyes looked somehow happy but her thin pinkish lips were still as plain as ever she waved her hip-length, beautiful, blonde hair it softly flowed with the wind her moment of peace was broken by the King and maids who opened the door “Natasha, please change into this gown Prince Jacob will be visiting you today and you must look your best.” Natasha looked at her father with a blank expression and said “Father, do I have to?” her voice smooth as silk and calm she was so soft spoken and never raised her voice her father answered with a nod and said “Yes dear, you have too”.

                 After changing she went down to meet Prince Jacob, she was wearing a purple gown and her hair ponytailed and some untied set of hair beside her face “You look beautiful.” said her father with a smile.

               A young man with brown hair and electric blue eyes the same age as Natasha introduced himself as Jacob. Natasha looked away at Jacob and stared at her father in an intimidating way, her father looked back at her and said “Natasha, could you please take Jacob around the palace?” “Father using “could” means I have no choice “would” would be more like it?” she responded “And I’m not in the mood...”  she added, “I have no interest in women who continue to reject me…” Jacob said “Good, and its lady not woman. I’m not rejecting you I’m just pushing you away and if you have no interest in me then just leave” she responded.

                 “She’s a girl with strong spirits, isn’t she?” said the King “And she’s also a sturdy and strong one, you’ve impressed me Princess not many girls insult me mercilessly…” said Jacob “I’m not sure if it was meant to be a compliment or an insult or is it just something to provoke me?” Natasha replied. “It was meant to be a compliment…” Jacob said “Forgive me for I have not noticed” she replied. “Natasha” her father exclaimed “Understood Father...” she looked back at Jacob and said “Let’s go I do not prefer to stay in one place” Jacob replied with a nod and followed Natasha outside.

               He quickly opened up a conversation “You’re a demigod??” Natasha replied “Yes, I am but I am imprisoned in this palace I never went outside”. “Would you go with me??? Has anyone made you smile, Natasha???” he asked and she replied “No, not even my father …” “What will you do if someone did???” Jacob added, “Well, I’d probably fall for him…” “Then I’m willing to be that person” said Jacob… Natasha looked at him and studied his face “You look sincere” she told him with cheerful eyes yet her lips still plain…. “You were about to smile” he said with a smile. They made it outside the palace gates Natasha packed a few things and wore a white flower-patterned hood it matched her tan skin pretty well.

              Natasha got off the horse; Jacob followed after her and tied his horse over a pole. “Natasha, I just told you ‘you could see the outside for a while’ don’t get off” he exclaimed. “You don’t understand Jacob just give me a year to explore then I’ll return home, just a year of freedom. Please, then I’ll accept you as my betrothed; whole heartedly” she replied. He stared at her eyes though he knew she was lying about coming back she looked convincing he took a deep breath and said “I like you, Natasha. You’re always so convincing; did I tell you I hated girls with pride always ahead of them? But you’re an exception to that, a very big exception.”  Natasha waved her blonde hair back and said “Natasha Chase, age 16, not in the marrying age. You’ll have to wait, cover for me with my father please.”

              Jacob nodded and said “ I’ll give you time if it’s what you really want, but you’ll return no matter what or else I’ll do everything in my power to find you. I will find you, you know that, right?” She walked away, and stopped by a nearby town and rented a room to stay in for at least a day. She checked her bag and what was inside and how she could use them, there was:

• Extra clothes
• Neck chokers in different styles
• Money
• A dagger with a silver double hollow grind, a golden cannelure, with a purple quillion that has a small diamond imbedded in it, and a light purple handle.
• A small bag of jewelry
• A box which has a necklace that was given to her by the goddess, Aphrodite. It had a small heart made out of silver with pieces of diamonds embedded on it; it had small angel wings made also out of silver.

She wore a short night gown revealing her legs; the night gown was light pink and her hair was loose, and she was also wearing the necklace given to her by Aphrodite. She laid down on the bed and slept but at midnight she woke up and noticed someone was staring at her window. She stood up and checked, she looked down and at both sides of the window. Before falling asleep again she saw a silver cross necklace hanging down on her window which seemed like it was hanging down from the roof.  She ignored it and slept again.

               The next morning she saw a black haired guy with sea green eyes and tan skin, he looked very handsome in deed even she looked at him with at least more idolism than to Jacob. She then noticed he was wearing the silver cross necklace she saw last night so she sat beside him and talked to him a bit. He looked at her and she looked back at him and she said “You were sent by Jacob weren’t you?” “Prince Jacob, not just Jacob” he replied.

                She rolled her eyes “You’re a demigod, son of Poseidon; you’re level is higher than his” she said. “He’s a demigod too, son of Zeus; still higher than me.” He said with a faint smile. “You were the one watching me last night, right?” she asked. He grinned and laughed a bit and asked “You knew?” she replied “It was easy to figure out who was watching me because of that necklace.” He touched his necklace and gazed in the sky and said “This necklace, I knew ‘this thing’ brought bad luck” “but I couldn’t bring myself to just throw it away” he added. “Why do you work for Jacob?” she asked him “He promised me something that’s personal.”

                He looked at her so curiously and said “You related to Aphrodite???”  She replied with a nod and said “She’s my grandmother, how would you know?” he smiled and said “You have this Aphrodite power where you can easily make people do what you want them to do or to call for their attention.” Natasha’s eyes widened “I can?” she asked with doubt. “So you think I would lie to you?” he said while he looked at her so intimidating.

                She shook her head and said “No, I think you would never lie to me.  We have something alike you see, being controlled by Jacob; it hurts me being kept captive though I’ve experienced it for many years it still hurts.” She looked down at the ground sad and lonely then she looked up straight took a deep breath and looked at him straight in the eyes “Why don’t we travel together to be free of him.”  He was about to speak but she quickly stopped him by speaking as well “I know, you must have asked yourself about  your wish I can help you with that too. I can grant you an audience with the gods surely they can help.” She said to him so kindly with concern.

                 He smiled at her like he just thinks she’s playing a game “How can you grant me an audience with the gods?” he asked her still thinking that she’s playing a little game. She swallowed up all her courage and said to him with bravery “I‘ll do something that will shake them up, something to get their attention and grant me at least a wish and I’ll make your wish for you or we could both do it, we could both do something that will shake them up.” He’s eyes sparkled he took things seriously now but he still managed a smile “I envy you, you know. Your bravery, you’re so compassionate and driven. Your even braver than me; to be truthful, your stronger than me too.” he said to her.

                She still didn’t smile but you can see the happiness in her eyes, she had hope in her eyes that made the guy smile even more. Natasha looked at him and said asked “Oh right, can I please have your name?” he nodded “My name is Lucas Hunter, you?” he introduced himself “Natasha Chase, it’s an honor to meet you Lucas.” She said politely and softly.

2: Aphrodite's Touch

                    Natasha left the cottage and went along with Lucas and borrowed his white stallion horse, she wore a short orange dress with shorts under them and her beautiful blonde hair was tied in a braid by golden ribbons and she was wearing brown Roman sandals for women. Lucas was wearing a black coat with a white shirt underneath and black pants and black boots, he fixed his hair and made it spiky.

                    They were in small pond training, and then Lucas suggested they should at least fight in a duel to be aware of each other’s strength. And so they did, Lucas took the upper hand because he was near water but Natasha isn’t going to go easy on him. When they started Lucas pulled out his weapon and lunged at her with water supporting his sword, but she was too fast and dodged his every attack. She then formed fire in her hands just as quick as Lucas grabbed his weapon, she threw a fire ball at him but he quickly extinguished it with his water.  Lucas smiled as Natasha pulled out her dagger, she thought it was weird to smile during a duel but she knew he was thinking about something foolish but might take the upper hand.

                    She waited for him to attack, but she heard a growling sound from the forest so she was distracted Lucas took that chance to attack with his water, and he succeeded. He helped her up but she didn’t look affected by her loss instead she seemed like she was a bit scared of the growling sound she just heard. “Hell hound” Lucas said “they’re usually seen in this part of the forest, don’t be scared.” He added “I’m not scared, I’m just not used to it that’s all” she told him “Well, since you still trying to reason with me I have a feeling the hell hound didn’t scare you that much” she told her with a smile.

                    That night they fixed up two tents to sleep in. They were in an empty part of the forest surrounded by trees and they made a barrier around their camp the horses were asleep near the camp fire. But there was another growling sound, probably from another hell hound but this time it sounded like it was closer than before. Natasha didn’t show any fear at all but her eyes, they said it all. Natasha entered Lucas’s tent and found him still awake reading a book, he put down his book and asked “You heard the growling again didn’t you?” he was about to laugh but he saw Natasha’s eyes they were filled with fear and terror so he held it in and managed a serious face.

                   The growling came again and this time Natasha’s eyes widened she was close to screaming but Lucas stood up and picked up his sword. His sword was larger than others, the hilt was color gray, his blade was black and sharp it radiated a strong aura and the edges were white, what called Natasha’s attention wasn’t how attractive the sword was, it was the Greek writings written in the fuller which she read as “The Water’s Master”.  He went out the tent and saw that a pack of hell hound who was already surrounding them; Lucas just smiled as Natasha went outside and saw the hell hounds she quickly grabbed his arm and hid behind him.

                    Lucas looked at the hell hounds and said “Your scaring her, I suggest you don’t. You won’t like it when I get angry; I turn into a much scarier monster than you.” Lucas lifted his blade and the hell hounds felt its radiating power, now they were more scared than Natasha, fear completely surrounded them. Lucas did his intimidating half-smile “GO!!!” he screamed at them, the hell hounds whimpered and ran they were petrified and so scared of Lucas. Natasha’s eyes were filled with wonder of how Lucas did that, he smiled “There, still afraid? Listen, I won’t let anyone hurt you because we both have a promise to fulfill. I won’t let you get hurt so we can both live to see our dream.” He said so kindly and let Natasha sleep in his tent and fixed up another place Natasha could sleep in.

                  She was curious so she couldn’t sleep, Lucas was reading the book and was sitting up he noticed her staring at him and asked “What?” she looked at him and sat up as well. She asked “What did you do to the hell hounds?” he looked at her “Nothing much, just showed them my sword. This sword was given to me by my father when I was 10 and it’s been with me since then. I considered this sword as a guide or something that teaches me the way to my father. Any more questions?” he answered her “I’m curious about your past, will you tell me?” she asked again. He smiled and said “I’ll tell you my past if you promise to never tell anyone about it” she nodded and said “sure”.

                 He made a serious face and said “On my 10^th birthday my parents were killed by monsters basically a hydra, I was really weak back then so my mother was killed along with my stepfather. I was found by a girl along with her father half-dead; she was really beautiful as her light brown hair flowed until her shoulders, her eyes were hazel brown, prominent eye brows, tan-skinned and small pointed nose. She looked a lot like you only your appearance is more unique.” Natasha looked down and said “Yet she looks more naturally beautiful than I am.” Lucas continued “They took care of me for 3 years but they were killed by a pack of monsters. You might know them, they’re pretty famous themselves, Ian and Ina Martinez.” Natasha’s eyes widened in amazement “The Ian Martinez???” he nodded “The one known for hunting monsters?” she added and Lucas nodded again.

                  He then stretched his arm a bit and yawned “Well, I’m pretty tired tell me about your side of the story tomorrow” he said. Natasha’s eyes were teary she was really close to crying when Lucas noticed he wiped the tear streaming down her cheek away and told her “Don’t cry, crying won’t bring them back. I don’t need anyone else to shed tears for me, it’s enough crying.”  Natasha was sobbing “In case I forgot to tell you, I’m a cry baby behind my stepdad. It’s my only horrible and big flaw including deadly pride that is” Lucas smiled “You have one more deadly flaw, experience. It’s something you lack; I’ve noticed earlier about how you fight, that you fight to impress not to survive unlike me I have to keep on fighting if I want to continue living the life I deserve.” He said, and then laid down to rest so did Natasha.

                    The next day, they picked up all their things and set out. On a cottage two girls along with their father live in, monsters attacked. There were different kinds, in the point of view of an experienced demigod they aren’t so strong but for an inexperienced demigod they are dangerous. Their father was taken captive of the monsters while the two girls escaped. Natasha and Lucas then came across the two girls; the girls were being chased by monsters that kidnapped their father. Their clothes were all ripped until their knees because of the small branches and thorns they passed through.  The older sister was pulling her little sister along but her sister was already missing one slipper. Their hair was all messed up and their bodies were wounded.

                 Lucas hid behind a tree and pulled Natasha along with him, Natasha felt pity for the girls so she looked at Lucas and said “Lucas, why are we hiding shouldn’t we help?” Lucas looked at her “No, my father is one of the big three remember? They might chase us next and call for back up; it’s more trouble for us.” He said “I don’t care if there’s trouble. We can help them so we should… I said-“she said but Lucas stopped her from speaking “Fine, fine, don’t charm speak me” he added. He walked out from where he was hiding and attacked the monsters Natasha followed for support. He goaled for the biggest monster, a Minotaur, he lunged at it with his sword supporting his speed was Natasha’s fireball. The first attack didn’t work since the Minotaur dodged Lucas’s sword.

                 Natasha grabbed the two girls and told them “Stay behind me” the Minotaur headed straight for Natasha this time Lucas screamed “Tasha!!! YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!” Lucas threw his sword at her, she grabbed it and pointed it at the Minotaur and fire slowly surrounding the sword and just in time as the Minotaur was coming close she lunged at it while Lucas’s sword was surrounded by fire. She succeeded in defeating the Minotaur and Lucas ran to her and took his sword “Nice job” he said with a smile. Then they didn’t need to attack the other monsters because they started running away, as they ran Lucas laughed “Being afraid of a girl, that’s hilarious” he said “Why? Aren’t you afraid of me?” she responded. He looked at her “I’m just saying you know, I guess I have something in common with the monsters” he said.

                  Lucas and Natasha turned to see if the two girls are alright, they fixed up camp in the middle of the forest and Lucas bought some clothes for them in the nearest village. The older one about sixteen years old, her eyes were multi-colored and her hair had some mixture of curly, wavy and straight it was colored cherry-blonde and only arm-length. She was a perfect tan; her beauty was mesmerizing and seemed incomparable. The younger one about nine years old and had flowing wavy waist-length black hair, she had dark eyes that call attention against her light skin. She had kissable pinkish lips alike to her sisters, and thick eyebrows. Natasha looked at them and said “I’m Natasha and this guy is Lucas, what are your names?” the two girls looked at Natasha and they thought she looked very sincere and kind.

                 The older one managed a smile and said “I’m Cheska De Valier and this is my sister Nicole De Valier. I’m a demigod, daughter of Aphrodite but my sister is full human” Lucas nodded “I knew you were a demigod from the start, it’s obvious by your smell, you smell like immortal blood and immortal aura” he said. Natasha looked at Cheska in amazement “You’re so beautiful, isn’t she Lucas?” Natasha said, Lucas looked at Cheska then he looked at Natasha “You’re much prettier Natasha” he responded. Cheska smiled and said “Indeed, she’s so dazzling.” Nicole looked at Natasha almost about to cry “I was so scared. Thank you so much for saving us, but could we ask a favor?” she said to Natasha, Natasha nodded “If I can help then I’ll try my best” Lucas looked at Natasha and looked at the ground and he looked like he was thinking about something serious.

                Cheska wiped the tears streaming down Nicole’s rosy cheeks and looked at Natasha, Cheska stood up and said “Our father, he was captured by monsters and we don’t know how to save him. But you, both of you are so strong I know you could help us, so please” She knelt to the ground and started crying “Help us” she added. Lucas stood up and held his hand out to Cheska “kneeling can’t do anything, but maybe we could start helping each other as friends. Listen, we need to put up a team of demigods to help us get the attention of the gods and we would really like your help” he said and Cheska grabbed his arm and he helped her up and sit.

                 Natasha looked at Lucas so softly with her faint cheerful eyes she yawned and Lucas asked “Are you tired?” Natasha nodded and he said with a smile “Then, let’s go set up camp. You two, by tomorrow we start moving so get lots of sleep.” Cheska and Nicole nodded and they helped set up camp and slept at the cozy tent Lucas fixed for them, Natasha and Lucas slept in one tent again and I could think they’ve gotten fond of each other. The next morning before Natasha and Lucas picked up all their things they changed into new clothes.

                Natasha was wearing her white robe above a white sleeveless top with different shades of green flower pattern; she was wearing short shorts revealing her legs, and brown boots until her knees. She was wearing the necklace Aphrodite gave her, with her hair braided back by light green ribbons and had locks of hair beside her face, she did look incredibly mesmerizing and yes off course, beautiful. Cheska was wearing a white sleeveless dress with red patterned hearts and under them shorts, her cherry-blonde hair was tied on a pony tail she was wearing dark brown ankle-length Roman sandals.

               Nicole was wearing a cute light pink dress until below her knees and her hair was let down on her shoulders then she wore the same shoes as her sister; she was also wearing shorts under her dress. She was wearing a coat that was until the top of her knees and the sleeves were folded until her elbows. Lucas looked simple but he looked like he was over-flowing with power and strength with his hair spiked up again and his long black coat while his sword was tied at his back revealing the carved words. He had a white shirt under his coat; he also wore dark grey pants and black boots a black belt with a small knife, small but sharp.

                  They set out to Cheska and Nicole’s house to find out what really happened. Lucas touched drips of blood on the ground and he smelled it, he looked behind him and he whistled a four-tone tune and Natasha instantly hid behind Lucas as the two followed her. There it was, a hell hound running straight for them but before it could completely crush them it stopped and Lucas patted its nose. Lucas looked at the three girls hiding behind him and he gave them a slight laugh and an assuring look “It’s alright, he’s my friend. His name is Wave” he looked at the hell hound “Wave, meet my friends” Lucas looked back at the girls and pointed them as he tells Wave their names.

                 He let Wave sniff the blood on his fingers and then Wave snarled and looked into Lucas’s eyes with its red eyes, Natasha looked into Waves eyes too and then Lucas smiled even more “Want to hold him?” he asked her. Natasha gave him a slight nod and he held her right wrist with his left hand and slowly put it into Wave’s head, she slowly scratched the back of its ear and it gave her a tamed growl. Then Wave’s pupil instantly went clear and looked at a nearby mountain with a cave, Lucas nodded and said “We have to go there, I made Wave track the smell and looks like it’s on that cave. Let’s go, and probably Natasha might have a little time to play with Wave.” The three nodded and followed him to the cave they entered it with a torch and found themselves trapped in a maze.

                How can they get out of this? Their stuck in what’s now considered a deadly maze. They went around and around and around they were tired so they rested a while and Lucas covered his eyes with his hands and thought it would have been better if they only brought Wave along they wouldn’t have been lost. Then he remembered Ina, there some things that Ina told him, directions to some deadly maze they used to hunt monsters and then he remembered everything he stood up with rush and lifted Natasha’s tired hands and helped her up. He smiled at the two and they stood up “I remember this place, I read about it once in a book at Ina’s house” he said to them, and then they saw an unlit wall torch in one side of the wall.

               Natasha looked at the torch case and back at Lucas “You’re so clever, I wonder why I never thought of it myself.” The two looked at them and Cheska asked “Thought of what?” Natasha went close to the wall torch and pulled it like a lever and said “That there’s a trap door, we have some of these in our palace.” The two smiled and nodded and they together replied “Yeah, Lucas is clever.”

                They took the trap door and it led to a tunnel by the time they reached the end of a tunnel, they saw it what they were trying to find. Nicole and Cheska’s father was in a middle of something that looked like a bridge, he was tied up and asleep. The bridge was in the middle of water and had floating candles that lit up as soon as they saw it. Then Cheska and Nicole ran to their father but before they can go far Lucas stopped them and blocked their path. Natasha asked Lucas “Lucas, what’s wrong?” Lucas looked around and said “Sea monsters, there unknown of any kind” Nicole asked with an angry voice “How would you know?!”

                 Natasha held Nicole’s shoulder and said to her “Nicole, listen, trust Lucas’s judgment especially when it comes to water, he’s the son of Poseidon” Nicole looked at Lucas and noticed the joy in his eyes. Lucas looked at Natasha “Tasha looks like your trusting me with your life now.” Natasha looked at him straight in the eyes and said “No, I just learned to never underestimate you” Lucas placed the tip of his sword in the water and closed his eyes and then they heard it the scream of the sea monsters that can penetrate the ear they all blocked their ears except for Lucas and Nicole and Cheska ran to Natasha. And then it stopped, Lucas removed the tip of his sword from the water.

               He came close to them and then when he was Natasha’s face “Tasha does it hurt?” he said as he removed her hands from her ear “Not so much, Nicole, Cheska you can remove your hands from your ear now” she said with her sweet calm voice. Nicole asked Lucas “What did you do?” Lucas did a half smirk and said “I just made sharp water blades appear under water and attack the sea monsters. Well, you can go help your father now.” Cheska and Nicole ran to their father and untied him, their father woke up and they hugged him then Nicole and Cheska burst into tears. Natasha and Lucas walked close to them and they let go of their father.

                 They smiled at Lucas and Natasha with tears “Thank you so much” they said together; Lucas nodded and said “You’re welcome” he pats Natasha’s head and said with a smile “You did great, Natasha.” Natasha looked at him “But, I didn’t do anything. You handled everything so fine better than I did” she said to him. Cheska stood up and said to Natasha “No, you were of much use to us, with your words that give us hope every time. Thank you for that.” Lucas smiled “See, every little thing counts” he said to her.

                They went out of the cave when they found another trap door out. Then Cheska and Nicole offered them at least to stay at their home for the night. They took their offer. But that night Lucas woke up because of a bad dream and he saw Natasha in the veranda gazing in the starry sky. He went close to her and said “Bothered by something?”  She slightly nodded “What’s wrong?” he asked her. She looked at him “I was just wondering, if this happens again who will they ask help to?” she said to Lucas “No doubt, it will happen again. Your right, if they stay here they’ll just might end up dead.” Lucas said with a worried look on his face she told him “I can’t think of another way for them and their father to be safe except” Natasha stopped her sentence “Except what?” Lucas asked.

Natasha looked down then back at Lucas “Except to take them with us”.....

3: Athena's Armor

               They went to bed after talking about what to do with Cheska and Nicole as soon as they realized it was already midnight. In the morning, Cheska woke them both up for breakfast and Natasha gone down wearing something that matched her well, Cheska’s gift. She was wearing tangerine orange shorts 8 inches long and brown hunting boots 4 inches under her shorts. A peach colored long sleeve top.

                Lucas came down as soon as Natasha arrived the dining room door. He was wearing a cougar blue shirt under his signature coat and jet black trousers and ankle-length black hunting boots and ran as quick as he can. He opened the dining room door and found everyone else eating breakfast except for Chaska and Nicole’s father.

                He sat beside Natasha and across them was Nicole and Cheska; they smiled as soon as he sat. He looked at Natasha with guilty eyes probably thinking it would be a good time to tell the two what they talked about in the veranda last night. The two looked at them suspiciously and Cheska asked “What’s wrong?” with a smile.

                When Lucas was about to speak even though knowing he wasn’t as good as Natasha with words but Natasha covered for him “What if we told you ‘you’d have to part with your father again’?” She asked them slightly confronting them; the two looked confused “Listen, we don’t want you to part with him. But it’s the only solution we have to avoid your father from getting attacked by monsters like before; it’s dangerous for a demigod to be alone unprotected. And taking you with us will mean protection for both of you and your father.” She said to them as kind as she can.

                “No, I can’t stay away from my father anymore. Let alone leave him, I can’t, I just can’t” Cheska said with slight tears in her eyes.

                 Lucas looked down then back at Cheska “Think about the positive side, you’ll be safe, your father, and Nicole”—but before he could continue Cheska stopped him.

                Her eyes they were fierce, her eyes had a sudden shade of red. She shook her head “You plan me to leave Nicole too?” She asked him with so much anger and confusion in her voice. Perhaps she was wondering if Lucas and Natasha was a friend or an enemy.

                But she got her answer to that when Natasha spoke. Natasha looked at Cheska straight in the eyes and said “Cheska, things doesn’t make sense, unless you consider it again. If you stayed here more monsters can track you, they will, attack not just you but your family as well. Don’t get Lucas wrong, you can bring Nicole with you it’s the only favor we can give you, but your father I don’t know if he can come. We have no choice it’s the only one we have, it’s the only one that can save you from your estimated fate.” Natasha said to Cheska with a kinder and concerned voice than usual. Her expressions for once changed and filled with so much concern flowing out, her eyes they were still dazzling but it didn’t bring out the usual sparkle in her eyes.

                Before they noticed, Cheska’s father was also listening to the conversation they had made Lucas gasped as soon as he saw Cheska’s father. Nicole had tears in her eyes, and Lucas noticed that the whole time she wasn’t speaking at all, she only cried silently in her seat without anyone noticing her. Cheska’s father did a slight smile but his eyes showed sadness “You can go you know? You can come with them. I know they can protect you and take care of you. I know what is right or wrong, and this is the right thing to do. As your father it is my duty to protect you and I will, even if I have to make huge sacrifices.” He said to them.

                Natasha stood up and bowed down saying “Thank you for making us stay here and taking care of us. We owe you so much and we promise we’ll protect them” she stood up straight.

               Cheska’s father nodded “Thank you as well.” He looked at Lucas and smiled “You protect them now. I’m leaving them in your hands, young man” Cheska’s father said to Lucas.

               As soon as they got permission they prepared their things and before truly leaving they burned some offerings for Hermes, the god of travelers to protect them on their journey; Hephaestus, to guide Natasha on her journey and help her master her powers; Poseidon, for the guidance of the water and bless Lucas more power over water; And Aphrodite, to guide Cheska on her journey to help her friends and honor her father and gain strength over her powers.

               The trip took them a few days almost about a week and they can’t stop walking till nightfall or the monsters might catch up with them. Natasha was wearing a loose 25 inch apricot orange colored top and salmon colored shorts about 7 ½ inches long. She was wearing black ankle length hunting boots. Her hair was down with a lock of hair hanging down her left shoulder. Though she was wearing a loose top you can still see her slender figure. She had a brown belt and her dagger strapped in the belt.

               Lucas was wearing a white shirt and black pants his coat was hanging down with open buttons and brown ankle length hunting boots. His sword was strapped around his back and a dagger strapped on his dark grey belt. It was the exact copy of his sword only without the carvings.

               Nicole was wearing a plain white dress with a small brown belt which had a dagger strapped to it, it was small enough for Nicole to carry and use it. It had a silver double hollow grind a red quillion and a vermillion colored handle. She was wearing cute black Roman sandals 5 inches longer than her ankle. Her black wavy hair tied in a pig tail with brown ribbons.

               Cheska was wearing a red 26 inch long v-neck sleeveless dress. And black leggings with brown hunting boots about 9 inch longer from her ankle. Her cherry-blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail.  Her eyes still have an undetermined color.

               “I’m dying to talk to some guys; you know how hard it is being stuck with girls?” Lucas said with a hopeless sigh.

               Natasha looked at him and said “Well, you don’t know how lucky you are being stuck with beautiful girls. You should enjoy it while we haven’t found a cuter guy to come with us.”

               Lucas smiled and said “A guy cuter than me doesn’t exist.” And then he stopped walking and the girls did the same, his eyes brightened.

               It was a town with many people celebrating some festival. Food on banquet tables, people performing their talents on a stage, shouts and cheers, happy faces all over the place. It was already evening about 7 o’clock. They walked through a bunch of people but one caught Lucas’s attention it was a girl on a burgundy hood that hid her face well. She was drifting to the crowd but he knew she was a demigod and she was suspicious, very suspicious. Then they saw something else, a boy about thirteen years old. He was running holding a big book. He had big intelligent stormy grey eyes that give a cold yet warm reaction. He had thin pointed nose and kissable lips. His tan-skin matched well with his light brown hair and blonde highlights. He looked wiser than a thirteen year old should be.

                When he passed through them, Lucas smiled. Lucas muttered “Demigod.” As the boy ran Lucas looked closely and asked “Is he running while smiling?”

               Natasha knitted her eyebrows together and crossed her arms “No, he’s not running. He has plans that smile means he has things under control. He’s standing as a distraction.”

               Cheska and Nicole looked at them with confusion and asked “Distracting for whom exactly?” they shook their head.

               Natasha pointed on a tower near the forest where the boy was going to run to “For him, there the guy holding a bow and arrow.”

               She was right, there was a guy there holding a bow and arrow ready to shoot and are aiming for the soldiers. Then as soon as his grey-eyed friend hit the trees and the soldiers followed there were screaming but the crowd didn’t hear it because of the noise. Lucas ran to the forest and the girls followed him. And then there he was the boy was standing about 60 inches away from them and he stared at them.

               Natasha looked at him “Hi, can I have your name?” she took a step forward and the boy took a step backward. Like he’s trying to say: Don’t get close! But he wanted to know which the enemy is and which a friend is.

               He looked at Natasha straight in the eyes trying to read her expressions, but he has a problem, Natasha is expressionless. That’s the scariest thing about her, Natasha is unpredictable. Unlike certain people who can be easily read by their expressions and faces, Natasha is different you can’t see through her and you can’t easily read her thoughts.

               “Did you know that it’s not polite to ask a stranger his or her name before telling yours?” He told her with confidence.

               She nodded “Okay, my name is Natasha Dragneel. This guy is Lucas Hunter; he’s my partner slash protector slash friend. These are my two friends the older one here is Cheska and the younger one is Nicole De Valier, their sisters.”  She stared at him and he stared back at her with astonishment.

               Lucas laughed and patted Natasha’s head “Perhaps he didn’t expect you to introduce yourself so openly, Tasha” he raised an eyebrow to the boy and smiled.

               The boy smiled back and said “I’m Jared Edwards, son of Athena. And I’m assuming you’re a demigod, are you a demigod, Natasha?” he did an intimidating face.

               Natasha pointed at herself and said “Yeah, I am. I’m the daughter of Hephaestus, Lucas is the son of Poseidon, Cheska’s the daughter of Aphrodite, and Nicole’s human.”

               Nicole sighed “I guess I’m the only normal one here. And I don’t deserve to speak. It’s so sad that I’m the only mortal here” They all suppressed their laughter except for Natasha who suppressed nothing at all since again she was emotionless.

               Then they heard a rattle in the bushes was the boy with the bow and arrow. Seeing him up close is a good time to notice his features. Piercing through the moonlight they saw he was a satyr he was standing right beside Jared. He had tan-skin and jet-black hair. He was tall because of his goat legs but the goat legs weren’t the one who called their attention it was his eyes, they were big and red. His whole appearance was nothing compared to his soul-piercing eyes. It called so much attention to the person who sees it. The satyr is about 16 years old same age as Natasha, Lucas, and Cheska.

               He smiled at Jared and said “Met new friends, Jared?” His brown leather quiver filled with silver arrows and silver points with a green feather fletching, a bronze crest and nock, his arrows were balanced and well made. His bow’s upper and lower limb is silver and has a bronze grip. His bow is completely amazingly made with such high quality probably by Olympus. He looked at Natasha with his amazing red eyes then back to his bow, he lifted his bow. He grinned “Like it? It’s from Hephaestus, a gift.”

               Natasha gave him a nod and said “I do, and why did you receive a gift like that and I didn’t especially from my father.” She looked disappointed somehow; she knew there was something she has to know.

               He took a slight bow and introduced himself “I’m Jolo Daniels, a protector, representing Pan. I’m one of the people the gods sent to protect some of their children.” He smiled.

               Jared did a half smile and said “Well, I don’t know much about Olympus but I want to learn it. I have this book; you could say I stole it, from the wrong hands. And I would gladly share it with you”

               They created a camp a little bit far from the village to avoid the noise and the soldiers. Three tents forming a triangle and the campfire at the middle, the horses slept at the side. They sat around the campfire that Natasha built with her powers. Jared had a few bags with supplies. He then brought out the book, he said he’d stolen. The book was big and brown like an almanac and 3 inches thick the cover says:

Gods, Goddesses, and Demigods

               Natasha knitted her eye brows together and said “It’s a book about us. Can I borrow; I’ve never learned much about the gods and goddesses myself?”

               Jared gave her a smile and said “Sure, why not? Lucas, do you know about Greek mythology?” he stared at Lucas with curious eyes and a curious face.

               Lucas looked at him and grinned “Yeah, I have, my favorite minor goddess is Nemesis. She cursed some guy named Narcissus, who was a hunter renowned for his ‘beauty’. He was exceptionally proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. Nemesis saw this and attracted Narcissus to a pool where he saw his own reflection and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, unfortunately he ‘died’” he gave a slight laugh “weird isn’t he???” he asked everyone then everyone gave a nod and laughed as well, except for Natasha.

              Natasha looked at Jolo and asked him “About the gifts? Would you explain them to me? I want to learn about them.”

               Jolo gave her a slight nod and smiled “It’s natural for a child of fate or a child with a decided future to serve the gods and goddesses to receive a blessing and a gift from 4 chosen gods or goddesses. Mine was Hephaestus, his gift to me was the bow and arrow, and his blessing was to be able to use weapons in hand properly with skill but will master the bow. My next was Athena, blessing was knowledge in war and gift was my red eyes to be able to attract and distract the enemy and can be used in war and the eagle eyes came with them, to help me be a sharp-shooter. The third god was Pan, blessing was to be treated and to treat animals of the wildlife nicely, gift was blessed water able to heal any disease and wounds. The last one is Apollo; blessing is being able to play musical instruments astonishingly and his gift is this, a flute, a flute that can affect its surroundings by playing music.” He said to her.

                Natasha’s eyes were filled with so much wonder “I wonder if I received gifts?” Jolo looked at her and gave her a gentle smile.

               Lucas gave her a gentle laugh and came close to her “You did, that necklace, you’re wearing its Aphrodite’s gift obviously.” He pointed at her neck lace.

               Jared smiled at Lucas and said “You have good eyes, Lucas. Very good.” He looked at Jolo and added “Could you clearly give a guess at least about Natasha’s gifts and Lucas’s gifts too?”

               Lucas’s eyes were filled with so much wonder “I have gifts?” He asked Jolo and Jared, Jared gave him a nodding of approval.

               Jolo smiled “I’m going to explain Natasha first. The first is Hephaestus; his blessing is the power of fire or your source of strength and his gift is your beautiful dagger around your waist. Second is Aphrodite, her blessing is beauty and the powerful voice you use to help you control and affect people, her gift is that beautiful necklace around your neck. Third is Poseidon, his blessing is the ability to read expressions through facials and the ability to use a trident fairly well and his gift is the horse.” – Before he could go on someone interrupted.

                Natasha’s eyes knitted themselves together “What do you mean? Lucas gave me that horse, not Poseidon.” Somehow she looked confused.

               Lucas smiled and gave her a pat in the back “You know what, I just found that horse when I met you but it bowed down to you somehow accepting you as his master. So I guess the horse is from dad. Your good Jolo, continue if you please.” He said to everyone.

                Jolo nodded with a gentle smile “The forth one is from Hades but he only gave a blessing no gift, it’s the power to bring yourself back to life when you die once, you can only use it on yourself. There was another god, they made an exception, and 5 gods blessed you. The last one is Zeus, himself, his gift is a choker able to affect the weather, I vision it’s the one with the sun mark in the middle, and his blessing is the ability of leadership you will be able to stand as a leader better than anyone else right here.” He said to Natasha with so much happiness in his eyes to help.

               Natasha looked at Jolo in a suspicious way “How do you know all this? Do you have the gift of prophecy or something?” she asked him.

               He clutched his right fist and put his fist on his left chest “I live by instinct, strength, and intelligence. The three things a person needs to be considered strong, I used my contacts with Athena to gain this knowledge. She just talked to me in my brain; her voice was there like a silent whisper.”

               Lucas sighed and instantly said “You know, if you guys wanted to talk privately we’ll give you time. I just noticed nobody was speaking except for me, Tasha, and Jolo. Did you notice?” he looked at Cheska, Nicole, and Jared.

               The two were sitting there and they both managed a smile “No, its okay for us listening.” Cheska said and stood up and walked up to a pile of wood and threw one in the fire she sat back to her old place beside Nicole. Then she gasped as if she remembered something important “Lucas’s gifts and blessings” she told them.

               Jared gave them a slight laugh and said “yeah, we forgot about that Jolo.  Will you please??? Give him everything you’ve got, Jolo.” He smiled it off.

               Jolo closed his eyes and he opened them after 5 seconds then grinned “Lucas Hunter’s gifts and blessings are from the five strongest, they reconsidered something since Hades just gives gifts no blessings. The first one is Poseidon, his gift is that sword that radiates power made by Hephaestus himself and was dipped at the River Styx and it bears the Curse of Achilles so its owner has to bear with the curse too, and his blessing is your ability to control water and shake the earth, you are the son of the ‘earth-shaker’. The second one is Zeus, his gift to you is on its way right now…” There was noise like a call of an eagle and there it was flying above them.

               Its feathers were black and the head was covered with white feathers, its wings are so fine you can easily tell that this eagle must be faster than others. Its talons are sharp and strong but this birds talons aren’t normal their made of metal. Its eyes are soul-piercing, but it’s unnaturally sea-green so different from the others.

                Lucas touched its head and it looked like it bowed down, Lucas laughed “Looks like I’ve got a new pet, thanks to Zeus that is.” He said with a smile on his face.

               Jolo continued what he was saying earlier “and Zeus’s blessing to you is the shield, the one made with bronze and had carvings of your father’s mark a trident and some other things historical in Greek myth, the one that turns small and into a bronze bracelet, the one that’s in your coat’s pocket. The third is Hades; his gift to you is that dagger that when you hold it and master it you see those that are supposed to be unseen. The forth one is Athena; she gave you wisdom in battle as a blessing and when in danger of not being more powerful than the enemy you outsmart them, and her gift to you is that little dagger, a dagger is a weapon made for a fast and strong warrior. The fifth and last one is Artemis, this is weird Artemis never got interested in a demigod before, her gift to you is a small hand held knife the one that has a poisonous metal that can kill you in seconds even if the wound is not fatal I sense that knife is in one of your bags, and have you ever wondered why you’re close to animals and their close to you? That’s Artemis’s blessing to you.” He said and smiled.

                Natasha’s eyes brightened but still no smile “see Lucas, you’re special too.” Cheska, Jared, Nicole, and Jolo looked at him and smiled.

               Lucas suppressed a smile and rose an eyebrow to Natasha “You really think a guy like me is special? I was never treated so, only-only by Ina.” Saying Ina’s name made him smile like his remembering the time when they were together.

                Then Natasha gazed at the bonfire and her eyes reflected the brightness of the flame and Lucas stared at her eyes they were filled with happiness but he kept waiting for smile which never came “There’s something about your story that you didn’t mention, Lucas. You loved her didn’t you, you loved Ina all along?” she looked back at him straight in the eyes with sad eyes.

               He thought those eyes were sad probably sad because he lied to her, he hid a secret though he promised to tell her about his past. How could he reason with her, she can’t say he forgot about such an important detail he promised to tell her? But he just sighed and smiled “Sorry, but yeah I do love her, I do love Ina.”

               She suppressed a smile but still it wasn’t enough to make her smile truly “I knew it, you talked about her with this voice I’ve never heard you talk with. You talked with so much happiness in your voice. I wish it turns out better for me and the person I love, I wish he won’t die. Oh my, I’m so sorry” Her face was so guilty she said something like that.

               Lucas just laughed it off “It’s okay, it’s nothing much. But regarding love I can’t tell you anything else but make sure one day you’ll show me that smile when you’re standing next to the person you love. I’m so curious about how to make you smile, like this.” He smiled really happily like there were no problems in the world.

               Jared smiled along with Lucas and then said “If you’d let me, I want to join you on your journey, I also have a wish to fulfill.”

               Natasha tilted her head a bit and asked “We won’t mind if you come but forgive me for I may ask what your wish is?”

               Jared and Jolo looked at each other, then they both smiled “To meet my mother” he said to Natasha with a smile. Then he grinned “And of course, to help you on your journey. I will become strong until I’m finally worthy to be called Athena’s son. To protect everything I want to protect, I will be Athena’s armor.” 

               Lucas smiled then looked at everyone “She’s here, the girl we saw on the town, the mysterious one with the burgundy hood. She’s watching us closely from a far.” He whispered to Natasha as his smile faded…

4: Ares's Sword

              Lucas gave Natasha a heart-warming smile and everyone yawned, Lucas laughed. Then they all went inside their tents and slept Natasha sharing a tent with Lucas again. The morning started with hunting food for breakfast, they got 5 rabbits because of Jolo’s eagle eye and Lucas’s knowledge of traps and snares, Ian Martinez has taught him. Then Natasha cooked rabbit stew with the rabbits. For a princess nobody expected her cooking to taste so amazing. They all ate and Lucas extinguished the fire, they took the left-over to be eaten later when they’re hungry.

               “Well, I guess we should be heading out before an army attacks us” Lucas said putting their supplies on the back of the horse.

               Natasha gave Lucas an assuring nod “I guess we increased members, it’ll be harder for us to move fast especially since we also increased supplies that the horse may not be able to move as fast”

               “Are we slowing you down? If we are we can afford to go to Olympus ourselves, it’s alright, if you can’t take us with you” Jared said while looking at Lucas and Natasha.

               Lucas gave them a slight laugh “Who told you ‘you could leave’?” Lucas asked them.

               Jolo laughed and looked at Jared “Well, I’d follow Jared. Athena gave me this ‘big responsibility’ to protect her sons and daughters. This is why I was called a son of fate, I play a big role for Athena, I swore on the River Styx to fulfill this fate of mine.”

               Natasha looked at her horse and touched its nose “Oh, I seem to have forgotten to name you. Well, I’ll think right now” the horse neighed.

               Lucas laughed and then smiled “Sorry, Natasha has the habit of changing topics at certain times so I guess you guys are still coming. Speaking of names, I haven’t named my eagle yet.” He grinned “I guess we should both think of names, Tasha” he added

               Natasha hugged the horse’s neck and said “You must be female; I guess I’ll name you Reina. That’s a pretty name isn’t it?” The hose seemed to neigh in approval.

               Lucas smiled at Natasha and patted her head “That’s a nice name, can you name my eagle for me?” he said with his heart-warming smile.

               The eagle rested on Lucas’s shoulders and Natasha gave the eagle a pat in the head “How about the name Skyscraper, sounds nice for a gift from Zeus.”

               He smiled at Natasha and looked at his eagle “Skyscraper, I like it. What does it mean?” He raised an eyebrow at Natasha.

               Natasha looked at him and gave him an assuring look “Skyscraper means a tall building but I like it, it matches him well he even surpassed flying limits. I just like it, it sounds intimidating.”

               They left camp and headed for another village. Natasha was wearing a short grey dress about 30 inches long and black leggings with her white hunting boots and her white flower-patterned hood. Her hair was on a ponytail with locks of hair beside her face. Lucas was wearing a blue t-shirt, black pants and brown hunting boots, his hair was spiked up again and for once he wasn’t wearing his coat so his brown belt was there with a dagger strapped to it and they saw it, the dagger given to him by Athena strapped around his left leg, and his eagle in his shoulder standing proud.

               It was a beautiful dagger with a thin blade able to support speed; the sharp double hollow grind is made of gold. The dagger had a white quillion, a dirty white handle, and a brown sheath. Jared was wearing a dark grey shirt that matched his eyes pretty well and black pants a brown belt with a sword strapped to it. The blade was sharp and it was made of silver and the fuller was made of gold. The grip was grey and had a gold pommel. He was wearing black roman sandals and he had a bag strapped around his back that contained food.

               Jolo was wearing a fine bronze armor covering his chest and stomach. It was indeed well-made it had the sign of Pan at the middle of the armor; his quiver was strapped around his back and his bow in his right hand. His read eyes stood out more in the sun light than at night, they were still as soul-piercing as ever. Nicole had her dagger in her belt again; she wore red top and black pants with brown hunting boots. Her dark hair was beautifully braided back with a brown ribbon; she was still holding her sister’s hand as she walked.

                Cheska’s cherry-blonde hair was braided back with a brown ribbon like Nicole’s was. She was wearing a knee-length red dress with white flower patterns. She was wearing brown Roman sandals. And a dagger strapped around her waist on a black belt. She was wearing diamond earrings with a matching necklace. She was holding Natasha’s horse and she had a brown bag hanging down on her back with a sleeping bag.

               They kept on going until they found a cottage to rent, the girls slept on the bed sharing, but the boys slept on the floor. The night was long it was one of the only nights that they would consider normal and relaxing. The morning came before they even realize, they woke up before the sun rose. Lucas was gone, everyone went out to find him but only one found him, Natasha. She found him in the roof sitting, waiting for the sun to rise and then he noticed her staring from the ground. She was wearing a sleeveless white top with her hair tied in a ponytail and short white shorts, she was bare foot.

               She looked like she just woke up but still gorgeous her hair a little messed up and the still tired look in her eyes. She looked at him in the eyes “How did you get up there?” she asked him with her bed voice.

               He gave her a slight smile “It’s a secret, want to come up?” he replied, she responded with a nod and he jumped down, it didn’t seem to hurt him because he’s a demigod. He stood beside Natasha and wrapped his right hand around her waist he closed his eyes, Natasha noticed them rising and she looked down she saw water raising them up and then Lucas stepped on the roof when they were high enough. He opened his eyes and smiled “You’re red, Natasha” he carefully released her and offered her to sit.

               Natasha’s face went to normal, she was probably just blushing but she caught control over her emotions again. She sat beside him and asked “How did you do that?” she asked with curiosity.

               He looked down and smiled then back at Natasha “You’ll figure it out, you’re clever after all. You’re smarter than I am, you can easily figure it out if you consider thin air.” He told her with a slight sigh.

               She looked at him straight in the eyes, she rose an eye brow and looked like she was thinking hard about it within a second she’s already got it all figured out “It’s not a secret at all, it’s obvious. The moisture in the air, it’s what you use to get water, you pull them out of thin air all you need is a big amount of wind blowing through and you can take moisture from them.”

               He gave her an assuring nod and grinned then he looked at the sun that is now currently rising. The sunlight was slowly piercing between two mountains Lucas pointed at it “Beautiful isn’t it; the sun rise is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen?” Natasha looked at the sun rising she had such an angelic face thought Lucas such a mysterious face that showed him as little expressions as possible. His curiosity had won him over he wanted to know how she looked like smiling, he wanted to see it her smile that might melt his heart. He wanted to see a warm smile from her lips; he always looked at her eyes to understand how she feels, “even just once show me your smile” he said in his mind.

               Natasha gave him a slight nod, Natasha’s eyes were reflecting the same bright light the rising sun was, and it was beautiful, really beautiful. She stared at Lucas straight in the eyes she was happy but her lips never showed Lucas what he wanted. With her soft calm-headed voice “Maybe we should go down. They’re all trying to find us.” She said to him. Lucas followed her order and came down; they entered the cabin and found everyone gathered there. When everyone saw them both they let out a sigh of relief and gave them a smile.

               Jolo looked at them and smiled “Maybe, we should go explore town a bit; I hear they have a great Greek culture, maybe we could learn something new.”

               Cheska gave them all a slight laugh and stood up from where she was sitting “Hope their friendly, and hope that they like demigods as much as we do.”

               Jared stood up and took a towel he pulled out a clothes from his bag and went to the bath room with a smile he said “I don’t know about you guys but I’m going to clean myself first, I didn’t take a bath for about four days. Anyone else has the same idea as me?” he went to the bath room and closed the door.

               Lucas laughed and he rubbed his hair a bit “Maybe I should clean myself too. Do I smell, Natasha?” he gave her a smile.

               Natasha rolled her eyes mercilessly and looked at Lucas with one eyebrow rising “Not so much, but maybe you do need a bit cleaning.”

               Jolo laughed and rolled his eyes “What do you mean by not so much, he reeks of sweat. I can smell him from a far” he laughed.

               Lucas narrowed his eyes at Jolo and frowned “You can smell me because your senses are strong so is your nose, problem?”

               Jolo smiled and looked at Natasha “No problems at all, Natasha’s looking at me like I’m meal. Can you control that death glare she’s giving me?” his smile faded as he stared at Natasha’s eyes.

               Lucas looked at Natasha who was standing right next to him; her eyes were as fierce as fire itself. Even he was petrified by the glare she was giving Jolo, but she wasn’t looking at Jolo she was looking through him, at the window.  Lucas looked at Jolo “She’s not staring at you; she’s staring at the window. Move a bit, please.” He said to Jolo with curiosity at his voice. Jolo moved aside and Lucas went close to the window with Natasha beside him. And there he saw why anger filled Natasha. The window showed the view of the town because the cottage was resting on top of a hill. Right in the middle of town there was an execution platform and there was someone bleeding.

               Natasha’s expression hardened and stared at the platform she slightly shook her head “I can’t believe they still do this stuff, execution has been forbidden to the whole kingdom of Taiki” she had tearful eyes that looked straight at Lucas.

               Lucas patted her head “It’s alright, not all people follow orders from the Palace. I can’t guess what that guy did to be there, should we go close to see what happened?” he asked Natasha.

               Natasha nodded and so did Jolo, “Yes, we should go and see right after we all clean ourselves. We should let Skyscraper investigate from above too, can we let him fly around?” she asked him with a very confident tone. Lucas gave her a nod and tended to the things they had to do and went to town.

               And they reached the execution platform and saw a guy whose hands were tied up on a pole and looked like the only things that make him stand, he was unconscious. He had whip marks all over his chest and they were still fresh, he wasn’t wearing a top only short and black pants, he was also bare foot. He had bloody red hair it was until his neck that trended with his tan skin, his eyes were closed, and he looked half dead. There were people guarding him like he might just escape from his position.

               Lucas sniffed the wind blowing their way and made a slight smile “He’s a demigod, maybe that’s why they’re guarding him so tightly.”

               Nicole looked at Lucas and raised an eye brow “You think we should go rescue him? I think he might be useful to this group, he looks strong.”

               Lucas shook her head “I don’t think so; I think he’ll bring us more trouble. If we rescue him, who knows what might happen?” he looked at Nicole with intimidating eyes.

               Nicole rolled her eyes at Lucas then looked at Natasha “I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to Natasha. I must remind you that, she was given the blessing to stand as a strong leader, with strong perspectives because she was the one Zeus blessed with that ability. Probably because Zeus thinks she deserves it and she can control us very well.” Nicole said with a very intimidating tone in her voice.

               Lucas nodes and turned his eyes at Natasha “Ok then, how about let’s leave Skyscraper here for a while and keep an eye on the guards, while we stay on the cottage and wait for a report when there are no guards and then we help him, is that clear?” Natasha said to the others as she gazed at the platform.

               Everyone looked at her as Skyscraper flew on Lucas’s left shoulder “That’s a nice idea, I guess I’ve never thought of it before” Lucas said with a sudden grin on his face.

               Everyone returned to the cottage and relaxed for a while Lucas got bored a dozen of times, almost every hour. He found a new play mate which was Jared, they played chess for about 1 hour and he never won a single game. They went outside and chased each other around the flowery hill the girls joined them, it was fun.

               Natasha didn’t join them though she just read a book while leaning down a tree the wind longingly played with her hair, they noticed she looked beautiful in that white sleeveless dress she was wearing  and brown ankle-length Roman sandals. They stopped playing as soon as they all saw her angelic face reading that book, her eyes slowly moving, following the words to where they go. They went closer to see her face as she read. She soon noticed and shifted her eyes to them “What?” she asked them with that angelic face as she slowly pushed locks of hair behind her ear.

               Everyone smiled at her. Lucas looked at the clouds and spotted Skyscraper “He’s here. Skyscraper’s here!” He screamed as he ran closer to Skyscraper, Skyscraper landed on his left shoulder. And he hawked at them, Jolo understood what Skyscraper meant and explained it.

               Jolo smiled at everyone and eyed Natasha “He says that ‘They exchange duties exactly when the clock tower hit ten, there won’t be any guards in a few minutes’.” Everyone looked at him and then at Natasha, waited for a response.

               She nodded and looked at Lucas and sighed “You know what that means right, we’re going to rescue him at ten. Are there problems we have to reconsider the solution to?” Natasha said to all of them.

               All of them looked at each other, Lucas looked only at Natasha and finally found his voice to speak “What if they catch us?” he asked her.

               Natasha rolled her eyes and stared at Lucas “They won’t catch us; we’ll make sure of that. It’s either we hide or run really fast, my choice is run really fast. Then we return to the cottage, and pretend like nothing happened until this guy is strong enough and then we leave, is that clear?” Natasha asked all of them.

               Everyone nodded and Lucas smiled “Crystal.” He responded with the thrill on his eyes, the usual thrill when he likes what he’s doing. Those sea green eyes that used to be warm a few seconds ago, they are now cold and soul-piercing he closed his eyes then they turned back to normal “Are we going to start preparing for it now?” he asked Natasha, she responded with a slight nod of assurance.

                After preparing the things they need for ten o’clock Lucas slowly watched Natasha and Jared playing chess and he learned a couple of tricks in chess that came from Natasha, she won. Then Lucas played against Natasha, he almost won, until the king was surrounded and “Check mate” she said with a soft voice.

                Jared’s eyes were filled with shock “You almost lost to Lucas but he lost to me and I lost to you. This is confusing so is he smarter or dumber than me?” Jared asked sarcastically.

               Natasha fixed her eyes on him “It means that he meant to lose, he was underestimating you and he gave his best to me because he thought I’m stronger than you and so he needed to give it his all.” Then she fixated her eyes on Lucas “It’s bad to overestimate but it’s worse to underestimate.”

               Lucas’s expression hardened he looked at her so interestingly “Why is it bad to overestimate, you will be stronger than him right? You’re even taking the upper hand thinking he’ll be stronger than you and convince you to work hard?” he asked her softly.

               She rolled her eyes at him “You may be convinced but the thing is, you have to estimate the exact power level to determine which attack combo to use to defeat him and if you overestimate him and find yourself stronger and underestimate him and if he stands again after you’ve used a strong attack that is able to drain you’re energy he’ll get the best of you. Another example is when you use your strongest attack against him it drained you’re energy but he happens to dodge it, you’re drained, you’ll lose.” She said to him and Jared.

               Jared nodded and so did Lucas but before they noticed it was already nine o’clock in the evening and they should start moving and they must prepare to take they’re positions. Natasha changed her clothes she wore black leggings and a brown hunting jacket on top of a white top and brown hunting boots. Her dagger was strapped around her leg and she had the bronze bracelet that turns to a shield. Lucas made her borrow it, because he thinks she’ll need it more than him. There he goes underestimating Natasha thought every time she looks at the bracelet. Her beautiful blonde hair was tied in a ponytail to make her move quicker if anything happens.

                Lucas was wearing black pants and a dark grey top with black hunting boots, two of his daggers strapped around his belt why he holds his sword with his right hand. His hair was natural, no longer spiked up; Skyscraper was resting on his left shoulder.  Cheska’s hair were hanging down her shoulders, she was wearing black short shorts and a plain white top. Cheska was also wearing a brown belt with a dagger strapped to it. She wore black Roman sandals that were until her knees.

                Nicole was left inside the cottage to pack up all of their things just in case something bad happens and to open the door when they arrive. She was also assigned to prepare medical items exactly when they arrive. She was wearing a dark blue dress with a dagger in her black belt just in case she’ll need it. Jolo was wearing a black top under his bronze armor and his arrows strapped on his back it looks like it wasn’t used, it was still filled with arrows and that’s the time when Natasha figured that the arrow comes back to its quiver after the person he shoots is in near death, badly injured, or dead.  His eyes were still as deadly as ever, he has his bow in hand.

                Jared was wearing dark pants and a dark blue top with his dagger strapped to his belt. He was wearing black boots; his brown hair was a slight mess. He wore a brown leather bracelet strapped around his hand. They went to the middle of town and it was dark so there weren’t people in town they took their positions Natasha planned for them.

               Jolo was assigned in high ground so he can work well with his eagle eye and to watch out for enemies. Lucas was assigned to untie and carry the young man to safety with Natasha. Cheska and Jared were assigned to watch from ground to make sure no one comes close enough to ruin the plan. Lucas and Natasha slowly untied the young man from the pole. As soon as he was released, Lucas sent Skyscraper to go to Nicole and send a message. It was a piece of paper he holds using his sharp claw. Nicole opened the window to let Skyscraper in and the message says “Get ready, no one caught us. So open the medical kit Natasha prepared earlier.” She instantly followed Lucas’s orders, and they soon arrived with Lucas carrying the bleeding man in his shoulders.

               Natasha went inside instantly and helped Nicole carry warm water she looked at Lucas and nodded at him with confidence “Get him inside and lay him on the bed. Make sure to stop the bleeding, Jolo I’m counting on you with that. Cheska, you can speak to him with your irresistible voice and ask him to wake up as soon as possible. Me, and Nicole will clean up his chest. Lucas get clothes for him, he needs to change and to be cleaned. Hurry all of you, move!” She ordered everyone and they all rushed and hurried to their assigned task. They all realized Natasha’s plan was flawless they got him cleaned up and alright before they even noticed quicker than they all estimated. They put a blanket on him and Jared checked his temperature and this guy had a fever.

                They had to make sure their stocks were full so any time they get discovered they could leave, as quickly as possible. Cheska went to the town and Lucas instructed her to bring Nicole along, they were going to buy food for everyone. They bought extra food for tomorrow, and when they were walking back they heard some of the army men talking.

                One had a dark blue cape while the other had red this made Cheska think the blue cape guy was the leader. He ordered his men “We do not need to search for the culprit, let the demigod be he will come back on his own someday. There is no need to search for him, let him be he doesn’t need to die.”

               They ran back as soon as they heard it. Lucas opened the door softly when they arrived as Natasha instructed them to so they can’t disturb anyone that is currently resting. They prepared food in the table and everyone ate. Cheska told them about what she heard everyone looked at Natasha for orders, except for Lucas who seems to be thinking of something else.

                She looked at him with wonder “What are you thinking of?” she asked him with her right eyebrow rising.

                Lucas looked at her straight in the eyes and he bit his lower lip “You think they really won’t search for us?” he asked her with hesitation in his voice.

                Natasha nodded and studied his face “I guess we have to stay here for awhile as long as he wakes up. We have to make sure he’s alright and fit to go. Jolo how’s healing doing?”

                Jolo looked down at his food then back at Natasha “He’ll regenerate faster if he was awake, when his cells are active. I’ve stopped the bleeding but he still can’t go, he’s still prone to infection so we can’t let him. The forest will be dangerous for him, he has to wake” he told everyone.

                Cheska slightly shook her head “I need help; I mean my voice isn’t trained for a response yet I can’t control it that much.” She told everyone else.

                Lucas eyed Cheska and he slightly laughed when he saw Nicole sitting beside her sister with no care in the world except for her food “Well, Natasha can control her voice well enough. Maybe you should help, Tasha?” he told Natasha and everyone else.

                They settled with that, Natasha will help Cheska. After 4 days of taking care of the boy Natasha sat beside the boy and held his hand she looked at him in the face and spoke putting all of the power she can gather in her voice “Listen, we need you to wake up. You have to wake up, please open your eyes, so we can speed up your regeneration.” She let go of his hand when she saw Lucas staring at them

                Lucas was holding his knife and he was eyeing Natasha’s action he was sitting at a chair which was only a little distanced from the foot board. He rolled his eyes as he saw Natasha holding the boy’s hand “Maybe you should check his temperature. If he still has a fever let’s inform Jared maybe he has some stocked knowledge about fevers.” He told her with that slight angry look in his face, probably jealousy or envy.

                Cheska rolled her eyes as she leaned in the wall behind Natasha and rolled her eyes and stared at Lucas sarcastically and slightly laughed “It’s obvious you’re jealous, Lucas. That slight anger in your eyes, it might not just be slight anger. I mean look at those eyes, scary” she told everyone with laughter.

                Natasha checked the boy’s temperature with her right hand and as soon as she touched him her hand was grabbed by the boy’s hand, the grip was tight. Lucas stood up and positioned with his dagger for attack, Jolo also prepared his bow and arrow and aimed for the boy “No stop!” she screamed at them and they all put their guard down. The boy’s eyes opened and he sat up still holding Natasha’s hand.

                He waved his hair back and stared at Natasha, then at his hand holding hers. He let go and looked at Lucas who was still holding the dagger “What am I doing here? Who are you people?” he asked all of them with wonder.

                Natasha charmed her voice and looked politely at the boy “Look there is no need to worry, I’m Natasha Chase and this is…” She was stopped by Jared.

                Jared looked confused somehow “I thought you’re last name was ‘Dragneel’?” he asked her with one eyebrow rising.

                Natasha rolled her eyes and looked at Jared “I was lying” then she looked at the boy “these are my friends we’re demigods too.” She added with more softness in her voice

                Lucas looked at Natasha straight in the eyes but she didn’t meet his eyes, he didn’t notice he was already smiling as he stared at her. There was always a part of him that wanted to find Natasha’s weakness but he was unable too, maybe Natasha has pity to those that are sick. He sure wished he was, to receive this kind of care from a girl who gave him so much kindness the first time he saw her. She worries about everything, she worries about people she barely knows, he thought. He wanted to see it again, one smile, one sincere smile, just one. It was enough to satisfy him, to see her smile would probably be a miracle he thought that for days, he thought how long it would take for him to see her smile.

                Then a question came out of nowhere “Why would you lie to me?” Jared asked with his intelligent eyes trying to read Natasha’s face. Like usual, he didn’t get anything.

                Natasha raised an eyebrow “You should’ve thought of the answer to that already, I didn’t trust you enough before, but now I know we’re friends and we stick together like a family, right Lucas?” she asked them.

                Lucas nodded and smiled brightly “But don’t you think a family has to be together in many challenges. Who cares to what I’m thinking about? But stick together is fine.” He said cheerfully.

                Jared rolled his eyes and slightly smiled before he spoke “You lied to me then you call me family, nice going Natasha.” He said as he slightly laughed.

                The red headed boy looked at Natasha with a little amazement like he knew her for a long time. The first time he met her and he already knew she was someone he could look up to then he grabbed his courage to speak, he hesitated but he knew hesitation can’t get him anywhere. He spoke with such a soft kind voice “My name is Caden Matthews, son of Ares, I’m sixteen and thank you” he said to all of them with a slight bow he seemed polite and sincere.

                Natasha stared at the boy with dagger-like eyes and then they turned warm and friendly “I thought you were suspicious but the truth is you seem kind. Really kind, you’re the son of the god of war but you seem delicate, harmless would be a better word.” She told him, and like Lucas, Caden waited for a smile that never came.

                Lucas stared at Caden and raised an eye brow then he smiled “Waiting for a smile, Caden? I’ve waited for that too but it never came to me.” He told Caden with a slight laughter.

                Caden grinned at Lucas “I did wait for a smile, but I hope I see one soon. May I have your names? All of you?” he said as he looked at everyone.

                Cheska nodded and gave him a nice warm smile “My name is Cheska De Valier, this is my sister” Nicole who was hiding behind her sister slowly poked her head out and stepped beside her sister and slightly bowed like an innocent little child “Her names Nicole, beautiful isn’t she?” Caden nodded.

                Natasha looked at Caden’s eyes and he met her eyes. She then noticed his eyes which were golden brown as Jared opened the curtains and the sun was shining bright. His eyes slowly looked at the window and he softly touched his wound which was already gone, healed completely. It was no longer there and it amazed everyone how quick it healed. Jolo stood up and went close to the boy and held his hand out for a hand shake and Caden shook his hand.

                Jolo smiled bright at him and nodded slightly “I’m Jolo Daniels, I’m a satyr and well I’m the same age as you. I worked as hard as I can to close your wound so please don’t move so much it might open again if you don’t rest. So please tell us if there’s anything you need.” He told Caden with his kind-hearted voice.

                Jared went close to the boy as well and with a heart-warming smile he introduced himself “I’m Jared Edwards, son of Athena, and I’m thirteen and it was nice meeting you, Caden.” He had a British like accent when he said ‘meeting you’.

                Jolo laughed at bit “Jared, your British accent is coming out. I like it when he says that. He sounds so smart and sophisticated, in certain ways.” Jolo said with that sarcastic look on his face.

                Cheska suppressed her laughter when she saw that annoyed look on Jared’s face “It’s cute, really, I swear. Maybe you should speak like that more often, right Natasha? He sounds so intelligent and somehow cute, really cute.” She said with a smile.

                  Lucas stood up and sheeted his dagger and smiled “My name is Lucas Hunter; Son of Poseidon, I’m sixteen just like you and Natasha.” Lucas looked handsome that way, when he smiled, that’s the time he looks best Natasha thought. His smile was so warm it makes your heart stop; it can make any girl blush when the smile is directed to her. So casual, so easy for him to smile it’s like he never experienced suffering like there’s nothing in the world that can go wrong. His smile that makes you feel like everything will be alright, those kind words that come out of his mouth, those words that can mean all kind of different things but always sounds kind as long as Lucas will be the one to say it.

                 Caden nodded and smiled back at Lucas, Natasha looked at them with her beautiful green eyes then she looked at Lucas. She walked directly to Lucas “May I lend your ear?” she asked him. Lucas responded with a nod of assurance, she leaned close to him putting her pinkish lips against Lucas’s ear, she told something to him and he grinned and locked his eyes at Caden. After whispering something to him she took five steps backward to her old place beside Cheska.

                Lucas grinned at Caden then he leaned close to him “Do you want to join us on our journey for Olympus? We’re still trying to find people who could direct us to Olympus maybe you could help us.”

                Caden looked down and thought hard about it until he raised his head and looked at everyone in the room “I will join you on your journey, I’ve always wanted to train myself in battle anyway maybe your journey to Olympus will help me meet my father. He might train me, but I’m not hoping.” Caden said with a sudden pause

He then added “I might know someone who knows the way to Olympus, she’s Hecate’s daughter. She lives in the nearby town.  Her name is Zoie Fien”…

5: Hecate's Spell and The Land Of Prophecy

               No one knew what happened, no one except Natasha, who made them stop to camp for a while, probably tired or hungry. But she sat near Caden and replaced his bandages, and it was already dark. Lucas had to talk to the horse to make them stay in one place, and then he sat across the fire in front of Natasha and Caden, sharpening his knife while looking at the flickering fire from time to time. His eyes were serious at what his doing but he looked distracted somehow. Cheska was staring at Lucas with a raised eyebrow and she giggled a little bit then set her eyes on the book Caden was reading. Nicole was holding Cheska’s hand and was poking the fire with her other hand.

               Jolo arrived holding 4 squirrels dead and not bruised; he shot them straight in the eye. He was holding his bow on the other hand; his quiver was full as usual. He smiled at everyone who was sitting there all silent and gloomy “Here’s dinner, anyone want to cook? Anybody?” he asked sarcastically.

              Natasha nodded and stood up, she took the squirrels out of Jolo’s hand and turned at everyone “I’ll do it, Cheska and Nicole can you help me?” she asked them.

              Cheska stood up and dusted the dirt of her skirt “Sure, but I’m not fond of touching raw meat.” She told them.

               Everyone else laughed except for Natasha and Cheska. Lucas rolled his eyes and smiled a bit “Even Nicole is braver than you, grow up, and you call yourself the big sister.” He told her while pointing at Nicole who was standing right beside Natasha, Nicole was holding 3 of the squirrels in their tail.

               Cheska raised her eyebrows and walked close to Natasha who was trying to get rid of the squirrels’ fur and Cheska took 2 squirrels out of Nicole’s hand. She smiled at Nicole “I’ll take that, okay?” Nicole nodded with a soft smile.

               Lucas suppressed his laughter “You just have to anger her a bit for her to risks” he said with a warm smile.

               “I guess” Jolo said with a slight laughter he’s trying to suppress but he couldn’t for some reason.

               Then everyone stopped when Natasha and Lucas armed themselves looking at huge trees trying to find something, or someone.  Natasha looked at everyone else who looked confused “Don’t you hear it?” She asked them they all shook their heads except for Lucas she stared at Lucas her eyes asking for help.

               Lucas nodded “I heard it. Everyone ready your weapons.” As soon as he said it Jared unsheathed his sword, Jolo took out an arrow in his quiver and prepared to shoot. Cheska took out her dagger and Nicole also armed herself and hid behind her sister.  Out of nowhere a death scythe appeared at Caden’s hands. A beautiful scythe, blade made of gold, its long golden handle resting in his hands. Lucas smiled at Caden “Nice scythe” Lucas said gripping his sword.

               Caden slightly laughed “Her name’s Glaudia, she’s a gift from dad or a wild boar.” He said with a very determined look from his face.

               Lucas slightly laughed as well, a voice echoed around the forest “Take care of me, and don’t break me this time, Caden.” It sounds like a girl’s voice coming from Caden’s scythe.

               Caden took a deep breath he said to his scythe “Sorry about that Glaudia, it won’t happen again.”

               Then a rustling sound came from the bushes, a shadow was all they could see. Everyone followed the shadow running around them. Lucas tried to follow the shadow; this one was cunning but Natasha she caught the shadow quicker than Lucas. She brought the girl back to their camp her burgundy hood was covering her face. A smile spread around Caden’s face “Hey Zoie, what were you planning to do exactly?” he asked her as he got rid of the hood.

               She was cute and she looked young like 14 years old, she had light skin and a small pointed nose. Her brown shoulder-length hair was flowing around her face. She had big attractive violet eyes, she had kissable lips. She looked like a little doll, she had a baby face. Zoie rolled her eyes “Watching from a distance, I was just curious about what you guys are planning to do” she said to Caden.

               Caden laughed a little “Watching from a distance, lame excuse. Were you spying us, Zoie?” he asked her with one of his eyebrows rising.

               Zoie was mysterious, she was so unpredictable her face was plain at least she showed expressions unlike someone “I need help Caden, I need your help.” She pleaded to all of them.

               Caden held her hand and made her sit, he knelt in front of her “You think I have helped you too much? I’ll help you if you help us, one favor for another?” he said to her with a half smile.

               Zoie nodded with no hesitation, Natasha went close to her “I’m Natasha Chase, daughter of Hephaestus; it’s nice to finally meet you. You must be hungry; we’ll talk about this while I cook, okay? Make yourself comfortable.” Natasha asked her and went back to the squirrels.

               Caden smiled at Natasha and Lucas sat beside Zoie he held out his hand “I’m Lucas Hunter, you must be Zoie? This is our small group, that’s Cheska.” He slowly pointed at Cheska and the others while introducing them to Zoie and telling Zoie their godly parent. Each smiled at Zoie and it was her turn to introduce herself.

               Zoie smiled back at them, such a warm smile “I’m Zoie Fien, daughter of Hecate. I do quests, missions, and pursuits for Olympus.” She said to them.

               Nicole nodded at Zoie “What do you need help about?” She asked Zoie with that cute smile.

               Zoie’s body tensed “The spirit of Delphi, she won’t leave her dying mortal body, she said that ‘no one’s worthy of my power’ she needs a new body. The problem is her body is too weak for her now, I need help from you; I tried to convince her to take the body that has been offered to her. She refused.” Zoe said her smile slowly melting away from her face.

               Natasha stood up and two of the squirrels are furless “Do you know the reason why she refused? There has to be a reason; the Spirit of Delphi is wise, she will not make a careless decision without a reason.” She asked Zoie, she was trying to think obviously.

               Zoie looked at Natasha like she was trying to hide the answer to this question but Natasha has figured it all out, she just wanted to make sure “She does not want to hurt the sacrifice” Zoie said and Natasha nodded as if she already knew the answer to her question before Zoie said it “The sacrifice is a young woman with the age of twelve, she is too young but she is perfectly qualified for the role of the Oracle. She is the perfect person to pick as the future Oracle, she has gone close to Delphi, they are friends and Delphi refuses to hurt her because she has known to love the little girl. I couldn’t find anyone else who would be perfect for the role of the Oracle, and I found out the body only had a few days to live so I found it better to seek help and I thought of Caden. I met you guys once when I was searching.” She explained to everyone.   

               Natasha finished up with the squirrels and started cooking them “This young woman, where is she?” Natasha asked with a very determined voice.

               Zoie with no hesitation answered her question “She’s in the village, taking care of the mortal body Delphi has possessed. She does not want Delphi to go and die, she’s trying to stop the Fates. Go against what was meant to happen, do something against the plans of the gods and I can’t stop her, Delphi’s trying to but she said she won’t stop until Delphi continues to live in a mortal body. And she sacrificed herself Delphi’s refusing her offer.”

               Cheska nodded and sat down “That is a confusing story, but I understand.” She said to Zoie.

               Jared managed to suppress his laughter “Not really the brains type, are you?” he said to Cheska and Cheska forced a smile and made a face.

               Natasha blew on the food “It’s done.” Everyone sighed in relief “Hungry much?” she asked them and they all responded with a nod. She distributed the food fairly to everyone. She served it on a bowl “Squirrel stew, enjoy.” She said to them.

               There were exactly four logs surrounding the fire with two people in each log. In the first log, Natasha and Caden were sitting together; in the second log, Nicole and Cheska were sitting beside each other. In the third log, Lucas was sitting beside Zoie; in the forth log, Jolo and Jared were sitting and eating happily perhaps very satisfied. Lucas looked at his food then at Jared “This is getting awkward, Caden switch seats with me, please, I beg of you.” He asked Caden with a soft smile.

               Caden nodded and took his food “Yeah, it’s getting awkward too. I better go before I start blushing hard.” He said a little bit louder than he expected.

               Lucas stood up and switched seats with Caden “You, blush? What kind of feeling do you have for Natasha? Seriously, this one makes you blush, haven’t been in love yet I see?” Lucas asked Caden and Jolo suppressed a laugh.

               Caden shook his head “It’s not what you think; I don’t like Natasha or anything.” He said.

               “So you hate me?” Natasha asked him.

               “No, I don’t hate you.”

               “You mean you like me?”

               “It’s not that either” Jared started blushing.

               “If you don’t like me it only means you hate me, it can’t mean anything else”

               “Natasha, don’t confuse me. You’re making it worse. Let’s just say I like you.”

               Lucas rose an eyebrow “So, you do like my girl?” he asked “I mean partner” he corrected “in battle” he added.

               Out of nowhere the voice came again “I really thought, someday, Caden could be mine.” Said the voice which is somehow they all suspect is Glaudia.

               Caden sighed “This is not the time Glaudia, and I’m not into scythes.” he said.

               Then out of nowhere a girl appeared beside Caden. Tall and pretty, she had a pony tailed copper blonde hair, and golden-brown eyes. She had light skin and a slender figure. She was wearing a dirty white colored Greek dress and brown Roman sandals until her knees. Her dress had a white cape at the back and the right sleeve was long but the left was sleeveless. Natasha guessed she was Glaudia, so did Lucas and they were right. The girl smiled “I’m Glaudia, Caden’s scythe.” She said as her smile faded, then she smiled again but it was forced “My name came from the Latin word ‘gladius’ which means sword” she added.

               Lucas laughed “So you like or love Caden?” he asked Glaudia.

               Glaudia thought there and made a gesture with her hands, a gesture like “something in the middle” then Lucas smiled.

               Lucas looked at Natasha with a warm smile then back at Caden “Glaudia, I think someone already beat you to Caden’s heart.” He suppressed a laugh so did Jolo, Jared, Nicole, Caden, Zoie, and Cheska.

               Cheska looked at Lucas “Love is truly in the air.” She said as she grinned.

               Lucas made a sarcastic look in his face “Why are you looking at me?” he asked.

               Cheska rolled her eyes, and smiled at Lucas “I’m the daughter of the goddess of love, I can feel when someone’s in love and in this place there is a lot of love. And there’s a tragic story in this camp.” Cheska said.

               “Who has the tragic story?” Caden asked.

               Cheska thought of it hard “I can’t tell who but there are many. The first one is the opposites, the Fates support their love, which is true and never ending, it is infinite. The second one is tragic because they are not the same kind, but they will fight for their love. The third one waits for each other, even if it takes them long, they know they will meet again when the time is right, they are truly meant to be.” She said as her eyes sparkled and she stared at the fire, no one could settle what color her eyes were. It was amber, then blue, purple, green; they changed color from time to time.

               Lucas laughed softly “I wonder who are the ones that you mentioned, hopefully my love story won’t be tragic this time.” He said.

               Jolo looked confused “This time?” he asked in curiosity.

               Lucas sighed “Yeah, if you want to know about it please just ask Natasha about that. It hurts me when I talk about it; it hurts me more than anything. When I talk about it, death seems less painful.” Lucas said as he looked at Natasha and whispered in her ear “Get me out of this conversation, please” he pleaded.

               Natasha shook her head “No, it’s unfair; you teased us all and you’re trying to not be teased.” She said.

               Lucas knelt down “Please, Natasha, I trusted you to keep this a secret. Just like that and you’re going to tell everyone.” He said as worry spread in his face.

               Natasha looked at him “sit down, Lucas.” She ordered and he sat down “I wasn’t planning to break the promise; I was just teasing, minor joke.” She said as she patted him in the back.

               Lucas rolled his eyes “It’s not just a minor joke” he looked angry, he took things too seriously. Of course he did, it’s about Ina, she’s important to him the most important in the world for him, Ina Martinez. She’s the only one who gave him purpose to live, she convinced him to fight, to fight death, to live, and taught him to love.

               Natasha sighed and touched Lucas’s face “If I could smile right now, I would. But apparently, I don’t force smiles; I don’t smile, because I can’t. I idolize you Lucas, you have experienced hardships greater than mine, yet you continue to smile. I should ask help about that, I want to learn how it is to really smile, to be really happy.” She said she made sure only Lucas could hear what she was saying. The others were talking to each other and made a little noise to cover her voice. She was using her bed voice to speak; Lucas softly laughed at her and kissed her in the cheek.

               Everyone stared at them like ‘what just happened?’ and Natasha was blushing, her cheeks were red and she covered her mouth with her right hand. Somehow Lucas smiled at her and everyone was still staring. Lucas stuck his tongue out “Revenge is so sweet.” He said and everyone rolled their eyes and Natasha looked like she wanted to slap him in the face. Worst case scenario is he gets killed. He raised an eyebrow “Don’t act like it’s your first kiss ever?” Lucas said.

               “It is, you big idiot!” she said as she stood up and entered the tent aligned with their log. Everyone stared at Lucas.

               Cheska shook her head “I can’t believe Natasha’s first kiss was stolen by you, of all people, Lucas Hunter, the Fates just really had to pick you. This is really weird and depressing, just see you all tomorrow, I think we are all tired.” She said as she rubbed her temple. Everyone fixed their things outside, they shared the tents the same way they shared the log they were sitting on. Natasha slept with her back against the place Lucas slept in and she was probably mad, really mad.

               They all woke up and Natasha made sure everything was ready; their destination is the place the Oracle is staying, Roar of Madrid. Everyone was staring at Natasha who stayed quiet the whole trip. Lucas sighed “Natasha, if you keep on staying beautiful I won’t be able to handle you soon” she ignored him.

               He was right of course, she was beautiful, and no, that doesn’t even cover it. Her blonde hair was braided beautifully. She was wearing brown short shorts and a black belt with her dagger strapped to it, black boots until her knees. She was wearing a dark green sleeveless top, it was backless and she was wearing the white choker Zeus gave her, a sun pendant in the middle, designs carved around her choker, the necklace Aphrodite gave her was also around her neck. Natasha sighed when she heard Lucas’s weird compliment.

               Lucas was wearing a white shirt and black pants. His weapon strapped on his back and he was wearing his hunting boots, His eagle was on his left shoulder looking proud like Lucas. His hair was a little bit messed which made him look extra cuter than before. Zoie had her hood on and a black dress. Her sandals were strapped around her legs; her hair was messed like she didn’t fix it ever since last night. In the morning you could see a streak of hair white; this made her look mo re magical and less like a doll.

                Caden was wearing a dark blue shirt and black pants. He was wearing hunting boots as well, Glaudia was in a smaller knife form, and she could change into any weapon she wants this made her a great weapon. Glaudia was strapped on his belt, looking pretty and shiny. Jared was wearing an orange shirt with dark grey pants, with brown ankle-length Roman sandals. He had his weapon in hand, and his sleeping bag hanging on his back.

               Jolo was wearing a bronze Greek armor like before, his quiver filled with arrows. His bow in hand; he looked strong, proud, and he looked like a fighter. His red eyes standing-out among all of his features, just like usual. Nicole had a pig tails and little necklace around her neck, a little heart pendant in the middle that brought out the sparkle in her eyes. She was wearing a cute light blue sleeveless dress with dark blue shoes, and a dagger strapped around a brown belt.

               Cheska was weird today; she had no effort on being pretty which is really weird for a daughter of Aphrodite. Her hair was down, it was flowing around her face; her multi-colored eyes sparkled in different colors. She was wearing a purple sleeveless v-neck dress and black Roman sandals. Her dagger was strapped on her brown belt. Though she had no effort she was still beautiful and astonishing. They stopped walking before they entered Roar of Madrid; Lucas left the horses claiming that he could call them later on, when they need to leave.

               They entered the village, it was peaceful and there was a temple on top of a mountain at the edge of the village. The village people seemed to be happy, Zoie pointed at the temple “There, that’s the place. The place where she’s staying is right there.” Zoie said with a soft smile.

               Jared looked at the temple and examined the details he could see “It looks like a long climb, that temple is meant for Apollo. I’ve read about it already, just last night. The temple offered to Apollo and his Oracle, the perfect place for the oracle to gain strength.” He said as everyone listened to him curiously asking for more details.

               Natasha nodded at Jared “Nice job, Jared. You really came prepared.” She said to him with an encouraging pat in the back.

               Jared smiled at Natasha “Thank you, I did extra research on the other books I have about the Oracle. Did you know that the first goddess to hold the Spirit of Delphi was actually Gaia?” he asked.

               Lucas smiled and nodded “yeah, it was in the legends I’ve read once.” He said and he sighed “Let’s go, to the Temple of Apollo.” He offered them as he bowed down sarcastically.

                They headed to the village and observed as they go along. Now climbing the mountain was harder than they thought it would be. It was challenge; once in a while they’d encounter a wild animal but Lucas and Jolo ended up scaring them away every time they showed their weapon. When they got to the Temple’s door, Zoie knocked and someone opened the door. The way Zoie looked back at them gave away that this is the sacrifice, the little girl, the one who’s meant to be the next Oracle.

               She had light skin that matched her baby doll face. She had big almond brown eyes; her shoulder-length hair had black roots and is colored brown. She looked tired but cheerful, she opened the door with a welcoming smile like nothing’s wrong. She was pretty cute and adorable, so young yet she looked wise. Just by her appearance and her aura you could tell she is very much suited to be an Oracle and serve the gods. She was wearing a plain white sleeveless dress and white shoes, you might think of her as an angel at first sight.

               The girl tilted her head a little bit “Hi, what can I do for you?” she asked with a soft smile.

               Natasha nodded “Could we consult the Oracle? Our friend here Zoie, whom you might know, told us that the Oracle could help us with our problem.” Natasha said as she approached the girl slowly.

                She opened the door wide to let them in “I see, please come inside.” She said politely. She led them in a room with eight chairs enough for all of them. The eight chairs straightly aligned were in front of two chairs specially designed for someone special, the girl sat in the right chair who seems lower than the other. The young girl smiled at all of them “I’m sorry I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Nikki Arielle Jeremy, a villager. You all are?” she asked them politely.

                Lucas sighed “This is going to take long. I have a suggestion just say your name, age, and ‘godly parent’ or other.” He said and he smiled “Lucas Hunter, sixteen, son of Poseidon.” He added as he slightly bowed.

                “I’m Natasha Chase, sixteen, daughter of Hephaestus.” Natasha said.

                “My name’s Cheska De Valier, sixteen, daughter of Aphrodite.” Cheska smiled politely at the girl and waved her hair back.

               “I’m Nicole De Valier, nine, human and sister of Cheska.” Nicole said with a soft smile.

               Jared paused and looked at everyone he had his book in hand “What?” he asked everyone confused. Jolo elbowed his shoulder softly.

               Lucas sighed again “Jared, weren’t you listening? Introduce yourself, knuckle-head.” He said a little angry and annoyed.

               Jared nodded and closed his book “I’m Jared Edwards, son of Athena.” He said with a smile.

               Lucas did a face palm “Your age?” Lucas asked him sarcastically.

               “Yeah, I’m thirteen” Jared added with a slight smile.

               “And he’s an idiot.” Lucas said out loud and everyone suppressed a laugh, even Natasha covered her mouth with her hand, perhaps even she wanted to laugh. Lucas smiled at the sight of Natasha wanting to laugh.

               Nikki smiled at all of them “We’re not going to finish this are we?” everyone went back to their senses. Everyone sat up straight and Jared rolled his eyes.

               Jolo slightly laughed “I’m Jolo Daniels, sixteen, I represent Pan and I’m a satyr.” He said.

               Caden smiled “Caden Matthews, sixteen, son of Ares” he said.

               “I’m Zoie Fien, fourteen, daughter of Hecate.” Zoie said with a soft smile.

               “She already knows you, right?” Lucas asked sarcastically.

               “Yeah, but it looks fun.” Zoie said with a slight laughter.

               Lucas rolled his eyes like ‘forget it’ and Nikki slightly bowed “its nice meeting you all.” She said softly and kindly.

               Then there was a creak in the door and there was a woman who entered the door, it was a woman in her late 20s. Her hair was auburn blonde and curly; it was tied in a messy hair bun. Her eyes were big and navy blue, she had long eye lashes, and she had pretty eyes that looked wise. She had light tan skin and was wearing a long sleeve dark blue dress. She sat beside Nikki that gave it away, she’s the Oracle. She looked weak, like her strength has been sucked away from her.

               She smiled faintly “Do thee want thy prophecy?” she asked them her eyes went darker.

               Lucas slightly nodded and Natasha looked at him like then she muttered something Lucas could understand perfectly “what?!” she said with the angry look in her eyes.

               The Oracle looked at Lucas and made an intimidating smile “Very well” she said her eyes went darker, her pupil shrunk. Then she took a deep breath:

“Numerous demigods shall fight to the death

  Son of wisdom shall take his final breath

  Demigods will turn away from the right path

 But some will continue to fight Titan’s wrath

 Daughter of flame will change Olympus’s laws

 Son of sky’s plan of destruction will cause

 The greatest fear of Olympus unleashed.”

               Everyone started looking at each other, Jared was prepared he wrote everything in a piece of paper. Lucas and Natasha seemed to be in a deep thought, thinking about the prophecy. The Oracle closed her eyes and she returned back to normal, she looked weaker than before. She was gasping “My time is short.” She said as Nikki tried to help her calm.

               Lucas stood up from his chair “Do you want to continue to live, Lillian?” he asked her. Everyone stared at Lucas wondering how he knew the Oracle’s name without even being told.

               The oracle looked at Lucas “Oh Lucas, you’ve grown into such a fine man.” She told him while still gasping.

               Lucas smiled at the Oracle warmly “Please, take her offer. I’m sure that this is what Ina and Ian would want, for you to accept Nikki’s offering.” The Oracle smiled warmly. She started gasping harder, the Oracle touched Nikki’s face. Nikki’s eyes started glowing green and so did Lillian’s and then they were back to normal but something was wrong Lillian’s presence was no longer there. Lillian was dead. 

6: Zeus's Lightning Bolts

               Lucas helped Nikki get Lillian out to be buried in the village and told everyone the news, but Nikki doesn't seem to be in the right mind, maybe she couldn't accept the death of her friend. But Lucas was sure of something, Nikki is the new Oracle. Lucas gave her a pat in the back and she asked all of them at least to stay for the night. They all decided to sleep in only one room, to intimidate Lucas into giving them all the information they need about Lillian and how he knew her name.

               When they all took their places in the room, girls at the bed and boys on the ground then everyone stared at Lucas and he smiled “What?” he asked everyone sarcastically.

               Natasha lay on the bed and she glared at Lucas “I thought you’d tell me everything, but I guess there are still some secrets between us about your past.” She rolled her eyes

               Lucas slightly laughed “You must be feeling dramatic.” He said then everyone gave him a death glare “Fine, I’ll tell you about it.” He said at last

               Cheska let out a relieved sigh “Oh, thank the gods. I would've tried to kill him if he didn't tell us.” She said as everyone nodded in approval.

               Lucas sighed softly and Natasha came down the bed and sat next to Lucas holding a pillow and wearing her short white sleeveless night gown. He smiled at Natasha and he waved a streak of hair behind her ear. He took a deep breath “Alright, Lillian was Ina’s mother.” Lucas said and it took Lucas a lot of courage to speak her name.

               Jared looked confused “Who’s Ina?” he asked Lucas.

               Natasha looked at Jared “His ex-girlfriend.” She said to Jared with a slight nod.

               Lucas raised an eyebrow “She was not my girlfriend.” He said to Natasha.

               Natasha rose an eyebrow too “Yes she was.” She said arguing.

               “No she isn’t”

               “Yes she is”

               “No she isn’t”

               “Yes she is”

               “Fine, she was my girlfriend.”

               Jolo looked irritated and laid down on his part of the floor “Please, just continue.” Jolo said with a sigh.

               Lucas nodded “Sure, when I was young my life was ruined by monsters they killed my parents and one day I was found by Ina and Ian Martinez and they took care of me. I came to love Ina and her father Ian also became family to me. But not just Ian and Ina even Lillian. Apollo asked for help he needed a new body for the Spirit of Delphi. Lillian volunteered for Ian, Lillian was dying she was deeply ill. And she wanted to continue to live for her family; Apollo guaranteed that her life span will be prolonged so she accepted. But she didn't know she was going to be taken away by Delphi. It was painful I guess for all of us not just them but even for me.” He said as he tried to force a smile.

               Natasha sighed softly and touched Lucas’s face “I don’t like forced smiles, please no more smiling for no apparent reason.” She said to him as she stood up and went back to her bed. She lay down and then she slept, everyone was wide awake except for Natasha. Then there was a creak in the door and Natasha sat up awake everyone stared at the door “Nikki, come inside.” She said as everyone else smiled at Nikki.

               Nikki went inside, and smiled at everyone “I’m really sorry for listening to your conversation I couldn’t help be curious about your relationship with big sister Lillian; she always talked about her daughter, husband, and a stranger who she treated like a son that never disappointed her.” Nikki said as she looked at Lucas.

                Cheska sat at the bed and smiled “it’s alright, what seems to be the problem?” she asked Nikki.

               Nikki closed the door behind her “I’m just not used to sleeping alone, can I spend the night here?” she asked them Lucas responded with a soft nod.

               Caden sat down on his part of the floor and took a pillow and a blanket with him “By the way, Zoie our deal.” He said to Zoie as he raised an eyebrow. The bed wasn’t big enough for all of them so Natasha just suggested she sleeps on the floor beside Lucas. She gladly gave Nikki her place in the bed.

               Zoie nodded softly “Okay? What’s the deal? What do you want?” she asked him with a soft smile.

               Caden took a deep breath and looked at Natasha then back at Zoie “We need you to teach us where Olympus is, could you?” she asked him with a grin on his face.

                Zoie slightly nodded “That’s easy, I’ll be heading there after this, and I’m going to report what happened to the Oracle. But I tell you it will take us a long journey. Are you up for it?” she asked all of them.

               Lucas slightly laughed “Us, up for it? We’re more than ready.” He said with a confident half-smile. He looked at Natasha who nodded in approval.

               Nikki sat in the bed “May I come with you?” she asked them looking at Natasha.

               Natasha held her hand and nodded “Of course you may.” She said to Nikki looking polite.

               Nikki smiled “I’m the new Oracle, right? I might as well meet my patron.” She said as she looked at Zoie who nodded with confidence.

                They had to pack everything they need to go; they helped Nikki pack her things and also extra food and some fruits and vegetables. As soon as they got out of town Lucas called the horses and they arrived with a start but they were already six of them, two people sharing a horse and the others alone, one for their things, and one running which is probably Jolo. Lucas smiled and Natasha went to meet Reina and hugged her in the neck and Reina who neighed with joy to see her master again.

                Lucas smiled at Reina and put all of their things in one dark brown horse “Oh, your name is Ace of Spades, that’s a cool name.” he said.

                Cheska stared at Lucas in awe “You speak horse?” she asked him.

               Lucas nodded “Yeah, I’m the son of Poseidon, who created the horse and well I can understand them.” He said to Cheska.

               Nicole looked at Lucas “He speaks horse, that’s cute.” She said with a soft smile.

               Lucas rode on his horse that he later ended up naming Tornado, Natasha rode on Reina, Cheska and Nicole shared a white horse with a grey diamond in the middle of his head named Star, Jared rode on another brown horse that is female and named her Nadia, and Zoie and Nikki rode on a male white horse named Wind Rider, Caden rode on a male black horse named Ruin. They rode until the sunset and Lucas ordered them to stop for the night because the horses are tired of running. The camp fire was pretty noisy because they tried to decipher the prophecy.

                             

               Jared stared at the piece of paper “I wonder who the son of wisdom is? I hope it’s not what I think it is.” He said with a worried look on his face.

               Natasha nodded also looking worried “It is what you think it is, wisdom refers to Athena. Final breath is death so the line literally means ‘A son of Athena will die’ I hope it’s not you.” She said to everyone.

               Lucas stared at the paper “How about we explain everything so things will become at least a little bit clearer.” He said and everyone nodded in approval.

               “Demigods will turn away from the right path?” she looked at Zoie who was thinking hard about that line.

               She sat down beside Jared and read the line again “There’s a rebellion rising against Olympus in the east who has monsters, creatures, titans, and yes, demigods.” She said to everyone with an intimidating voice.

               Natasha nodded “That must be it, I wonder why they would hate the Olympians?” she asked Zoie with a gloomy look on her face.

                “That’s a question we have to find out, I think the gods would want to talk to us about that.” Zoie said as she raised her eyebrow.

               Lucas nodded with a grin on his face he must really be interested in the topic “’But some will continue to fight the Titan’s wrath’ must be us? The gods are even kind enough to let us live until now.” He said as he patted Natasha’s head softly.

               Cheska laughed a bit “Yeah, they sent me you guys to help me. Okay, next line ‘Daughter of flame will change Olympus’s laws’ does that mean anything?” she asked.

               Lucas smiled softly “My turn to solve the line, Daughter of flame which means daughter of Hephaestus my bet is Natasha. And Olympus’s laws must refer to the Olympus runs things or tradition. So it practically means ‘A daughter of Hephaestus will come and make a big change of how Olympus runs things.’” He said and he does make a point.

                “Son of sky’s destruction will cause?” Jared said and thought hard about it “The leader of the rebellion is a son of Zeus and he’s making plans that might.” He said waiting for someone else to continue.

                “The greatest fear of Olympus unleashed, greatest fear of Olympus is probably the Titans that are coming back to life back from Tartarus.” Natasha said as she looked at the east. She softly sighed “Well, maybe we should start eating.” She said as she took out food from Ace’s packs.

                The night went out as they all laughed and talked, if you saw them they look like a real family that stayed together for a long time. The laughing and the sounds of joy they made would make everyone in the place feel happy. The camp fire was warm around them, Lucas argued about some matters but later on they all ended up laughing about it. Natasha felt happy but she still couldn’t find how to smile. But finally she gave in, she smiled a bit and looked at the ground and Lucas stared at her and he ended up smiling as well.

                  He could feel it, the feeling of being satisfied of seeing her smile even just a little bit. Lucas blushed too he couldn’t help but think that Natasha looked adorable smiling. They finally finished up, they all went to their tents and this time Natasha and Lucas didn’t seem angry at each other anymore, they talked almost the whole night, it was fun. Then morning came, they got enough sleep and everyone had a very energetic aura. Every time Lucas looked at Natasha he smiles remembering all the things they talked about during the night.

                   They all decided to walk too at least make the horse rest a bit. And then Lucas and everyone saw two people flying high up in the air Lucas laughed “HEY!!! SKY GOONS!!!” he screamed to flying men. They looked at him and came down laughing.

                  The first one who came down had round electric-blue eyes that stood out against his tan-skin. He had golden-brown spiky hair and thin pointed nose. He was cute in a silent but deadly way he looked kind of silent. Lucas looked at the guy “That’s Jeffrey Tyler, everyone we’ll do role call later, this time just the names.” Lucas said with a soft and warm smile.

                 Then the second guy came down, now he is really handsome and attractive. He had the same electric-blue eyes and dark hair. He had kissable lips that were smiling bright. His eyes call attention that looked like they knew everything. He had an average body build and tan-skin. Then Lucas grinned at the guy “That’s Joshua Cullen, there both the sons of Zeus.” Lucas said.

                  Joshua went close to Natasha “And you are, young lady?” he held Natasha’s hand and kissed it like a gentleman.

                 Lucas slapped Joshua’s hand away “Natasha Chase, that’s her name. And no more hand-holding.” Lucas said looking irritated.

                 Jeffrey went close to Joshua “Sorry about my brother he’s kind of a playboy.” Jeffrey said with a warm smile and he stuck his tongue out at Joshua.

                Lucas laughed “What do you mean by kind of?” Lucas asked with a sarcastic look on his face.

                Joshua took a step back “I didn’t know she was your girlfriend, I’m really sorry.” He said with a soft smile to Natasha.

                Lucas hit Joshua in the head “She’s not my girlfriend.” He said with no hesitation at all.

                Jeffrey laughed “So, why’d you send as a message through a divine eagle?” he asked looking at Lucas like ‘what’s wrong with you?’ and he managed a smile.

                Lucas made a gesture like ‘how am I supposed to know?’ he laughed a bit “It was a gift from your dad and I couldn’t think of anything else.” He said with a soft smile.

                 Jeffrey stared at Zoie who seemed to be casting a spell “What is she doing?” he asked Lucas.

                “I don’t know but she’s cute, I’m going to go approach her.” Joshua said staring at Zoie who doesn’t seem to be paying any attention to the guys.

                Lucas looked at Zoie and shook his head at Joshua and Joshua frowned. Lucas smiled “She’s casting a spell for some reason, Natasha do you know about it?” he asked looking at Natasha.

                Natasha nodded “Judging from the words ‘θεούς και θεές να μου δÏŽσει τη δυνατÏŒτητα να οικοδομήσουμε μια ισχυρή δύναμη τομέα σε αυτή την ομάδα με το ÏŒνομα της Εκάτης, η προστάτιδα της μαγείας να μου δÏŽσει τη δύναμη να με προστατεύσει και η ομάδα μου, παρακαλÏŽ’ which means ‘gods and goddesses give me the power to build a strong force field in this group by the name of Hecate, the patroness of magic give me the power to protect me and my group, please’ she’s building a force field” Natasha said with a soft smile.

                Joshua nodded and laughed a bit “She speaks Greek that’s cute. One thing I like about a girl is being able to speak different languages.” He said to Natasha.

                Natasha hid behind Lucas and Lucas smile, Lucas put his tongue out “She doesn’t like you, Josh.” Lucas said in a not-so-kind tone.

                They decided to go on for the night and stay at another cabin with two rooms one for the boys and one for the girls, the guys were noisy they called it ‘catching up to each other’ as Josh said. The morning was quite joyous, breakfast was served on the table, and Natasha cooked so the food was really good.

               Josh grinned at Natasha “This is really good. Where’d you learn how to cook?” he asked her.

              Natasha looked at Josh and then at Lucas then back at everyone “At the palace, I practiced the chef’s technique in cooking.” She said as she took a bite from her steak.

               Josh raised an eyebrow “I see, I find you really cute Natasha. You have those lady-like charms.” He said as he looked at Lucas.

               Lucas glared at Josh then Cheska stared at Lucas, Cheska rolled her eyes. Lucas looked at Natasha softly and he gave a death stare to Josh “Lady-like charms, please?” he made a half-smile.

               Caden drank from his cup “it’s true, she is kind of cute.” He said with a warm smile.

               Lucas knitted his eyebrows together “Natasha’s more than cute.” He muttered.

               Cheska nodded “He has a point you know.” She said with a slight laugh.

               Nicole stood up from her seat “Would you guys just hold it?!” She said to them with a voice louder than usual and sat down again.

               Jeffrey slightly laughed “Now that girl has fire inside her. You could be a fighter when you grow up.” He said with a slight smile.

               Jared, Caden, and Lucas pointed at Natasha “Now this is a fighter.” Lucas said with a smile.

               “You mean Natasha fights, really? I did not have you pegged as a fighter.” Josh said with big eyes.

               Natasha nodded softly “You want to spar sometimes?” she asked him.

               Lucas looked at Natasha then at Joshua who nodded with no hesitation “Wait, I thought I was training you?” Lucas asked Natasha.

                “I take challenges.” Natasha said looking at Josh.

                Josh nodded with a soft smile “Let’s go after breakfast, let’s see who’s better.” He said looking confident.

               Everyone was in the forest a bit further from town, Natasha and Joshua was standing under the falls while the others were at the top ‘far from harm’ as Lucas said earlier before they went. Natasha was wearing a black sleeveless top and dark short shorts her clothes were wet because of water  they weren’t see through she made sure. Joshua was wearing a dark blue shirt and black pants and he is wet too. Everyone was sitting on the top of the waterfall; Natasha thinks they call the waterfall ‘Neon Falls’ perfect name because the water shines bright as the light of the sun reflects on it.

               She took out her dagger and Joshua controlled the wind and it surrounded him. His hands were holding balls of wind. His feet were lifted 8 inches of the ground; Natasha’s dagger was on fire. She took a position; Josh tried scanning for an open part of her body where he could attack, he can’t find a place to attack and everything was guarded. He made a very suspicious smile and looked at Lucas, Lucas’s eyes grew larger in shock and he shook the head. Joshua threw a ball of wind at Lucas and Natasha figured out what he was up to and blocked the ball with a barrier of flame. Josh flew of the ground into the air, his territory, the place where he is strongest, Natasha looked at him and he chuckled.

                Natasha looked at her right hand and formed a fire ball she nodded confidently; she stood up straight and stared at Joshua with intimidating eyes. Out of nowhere fire flickered on Natasha’s back, they formed a pair of wings thin but strong, they were burning fiercely. She then willed her wings to lift her off the ground she flew of the ground her wings flapping fast like a pixy. She was already as high as Josh was he freaked out when she saw Natasha heading to him with a dagger in hand. She lunged at Josh who almost got hit, his right arm was scrapped.

               Natasha acted quickly and grabbed Joshua’s neck forcing him to fall on the ground they were falling and soon Josh would hit the ground but then he forced the wind to lift him up, he gained control ten feet before they hit the floor. Natasha moved back as soon as Josh made a wind blade in his hands, and then there came a thunderstorm. Natasha looked at the clouds and nodded softly she looked at Josh “You have no idea what I’m capable of. “ She told Josh with the confident look on her face.

               He made lightning bolts go around aiming for Natasha and then she was gone, not dead she just disappeared. Josh panicked he looked at Lucas who smiled widely “YOU AREN’T GOING TO SUCCEED WITH THAT TECHNIQUE JOSHUA!!!” Lucas screamed at Joshua. He tried to find Natasha, she was behind him and it was too late she had cornered him. Her arm was around his neck and had a knife on his throat, and with that the game was over. Everything was back to normal they both landed on the floor.

                Joshua smiled at Natasha “I accept my loss” he said to Natasha and he held his hand out for Natasha.

               She shook it and Lucas and the others came down the falls as quick as they could, Natasha was still wet and Lucas had a towel for her. Her back was dry but she was still wet and cold, the sun shined again and Lucas wrapped a towel around her “Thanks Lucas.” She said to him.

               Lucas hugged her tight “Nice job Natasha.” Then he let go of her, he looked at everyone “Let’s go back?” he asked everyone.

               Cheska shook her head “Nah-ah, this is the first time I had a chance to bath in a falls. Could you at least consider it?” she asked Lucas with a smile.

               Lucas shook her head “No, we’re going Natasha could have a fever because of this.” He said putting his right arm around Natasha’s shoulder.

               They went back to the cabin and then everyone was busy then Joshua mentioned something “hey, I have a friend we need to pick up in the nearest town. His name is Carl Bien and Irene Hartlock, can we bring them with us?” he asked them and Lucas nodded with a soft smile… 

7: Revenge, Soul, and The Earth-Shaker

               Everything was weird everyone was gathered at a pub, they all ate while waiting for someone but Joshua looked nervous somehow he was shaking. Natasha stared at him as he smiled at her nervously, Lucas stood up and took a drink from the wooden counter and sat back to his place beside Natasha. The door creaked and Josh looked at it but it was only two girls.

                They sat at the table near the others. Joshua said that their table was too tight so Lucas pushed another long table beside theirs and they all moved aside. The two girls were staring at them, then Lucas smiled at Natasha and Natasha nodded. The door opened again and Joshua stared then a guy and a girl entered the pub Josh stood up and the girl ran to him and hugged him. Natasha looked at Lucas and he mouthed the words ‘girlfriend’ and Natasha suppressed a laugh. Joshua let go of the girl and let her sit beside him.

               The guy walked to them and as he walked he bumped one of the girls that sat near them “Sorry” he said to the girl with a soft and polite smile the girl just smiled at him.

               He sat beside the girl and bowed slightly “I’m Carl Bienne” he said politely with a soft smile. He was handsome with sea-green eyes alike to the ocean itself just like Lucas’s eyes. He had light brown hair and dark blue highlights and tan-skin. He looked strong but not as strong as Lucas. He was tall and had an athletic body-built. Natasha looked at Carl then at Lucas “Why are you staring at me like that?” he asked with a smile.

               Natasha looked at Lucas she asked “Doesn’t he look like you, Lucas?” she asked.

               Lucas looked at Carl “No, I’m cuter and I’m taller.” He said and Carl nodded.

               Cheska stared at Lucas then at Carl “Really?” she asked sarcastically.

               Lucas stood up and requested Carl to do the same Natasha stared at them both and he was right. Natasha never had a reason to look at Lucas and compare him with certain people; he was a lot cuter than Carl. Lucas was handsome and he was taller probably about 6’7 tall and she only noticed it now.

                Lucas and Carl went back to their places and smiled at Natasha. The girl reached her hand at Natasha “Irene Hartlock, daughter of Apollo.” The girl said with a soft smile. Her hair was Chestnut Blonde and wavy, it was flowing beautifully around her face. Her big aquamarine eyes were shining bright, she had cream-colored skin. A thin pointed nose, she also had two piercings in her right ear with black earrings and one on her left. She looked at Natasha “You are?” Irene asked softly.

                Natasha shook her hand “Natasha Chase, daughter of Hephaestus” she said to Irene and Carl.

                The girl sitting in the near table looked at Natasha “Natasha Chase, is that really you?” she muttered and Natasha looked at her.

               Natasha looked at the girl “Bea?” The girl nodded with a warm smile. The girl stood up with her friend and Natasha offered them to eat in the same table since they still have space for two people.

               The girl Natasha called ‘Bea’ introduce herself as “Beatriz Hale, daughter of Nemesis.” She said to them with a slight smile. She had a fair complexion and black hair and brown highlights. Her big eyes were framed with long eye lashes, the color of her eyes were like lavenders in a field purple and bright. She was gorgeous with a glowing and cheerful aura that could affect the people around her.

                Natasha told everyone about her friend who turns out to Jacob’s little sister in a confusing family tree. Jacob’s mother lay with Zeus and conceived Jacob but the woman died in the process of giving birth. His single father then lay with Nemesis and had Bea, the single parent took care of them and Jacob had inherited the kingdom when his father had died. He was the youngest king around the world and he needed a queen and Bea had requested Natasha, and told her brother she’d be the perfect bride.

                Natasha glared at Bea “So it was your fault?” she asked Bea, Lucas made a death glare at Bea.

                Bea avoided the death glare by looking down “I didn’t know that you didn’t like him I still remember when we were children. You used to say”—Natasha stopped Bea from speaking and covered her mouth with her hand.

                Lucas then looked at Natasha with soft expressions “What do you usually say before?” Lucas asked Natasha.

                Natasha was nervous and she was scratching her head, she didn’t know how to say it since Lucas said he doesn’t like talking about Jacob once when they were talking at night. She took a deep breath “When we were still young I told Bea that, Jacob might have a chance at stealing my heart in the future.” She said as she looked at Lucas trying to look cute, but she doesn’t need to try she’s already cute enough.

                Lucas patted Natasha’s head softly and sighed with relief “At least you said ‘might’ which means ‘chance’ I just can’t see you and him together.” Lucas said to her as kindly as he can.

                Natasha shifted her head slightly to the left “Why can’t you see that happening?” Natasha asked to Lucas and everyone started a conversation because only Lucas and Natasha have to talk about this. He smiled at Natasha softly.

                Lucas looked at Bea who was listening to them both talk then he shifted his eyes back at Natasha and softened his expression a little bit more “Somehow, I just can’t imagine it. Seeing you smile once softened my heart but I think it’ll just make me angry seeing you with him even though you have a smile on your face.” Lucas said with a guilty face and everyone looked at him. He managed a slight forced laugh “What?” he asked everyone, and they all got back to what they were doing.

               Natasha sighed and stood up “Well this is a pretty big party of demigods I don’t know how we’ll get by town without facing a horrible monster and endangering the people here.” Everyone looked at her.

               Zoie looked around “I managed to make a barrier around us right now so we won’t be disturbed but I don’t know if I can make it move as we move as well.” Zoie said as she looked at Natasha and scratched the back of her head. 

               Irene looked at Natasha it was only her that looked at Natasha casually everyone looked at her with respect excluding Lucas “I think we should make camp away from the civilians for now we’ll stick together even if we don’t get along much.” She said glancing at Bea’s friend.

               Natasha noticed her sitting there confident and glancing at Irene “I’m Adrianne Leigh Archer, daughter of Hades.” Leigh managed to say softly. She had light skin and olive colored soul-piercing eyes but they were big framed by long eyelashes. Her hair was shoulder-length and dark black that stood out against her skin. She looked strong, stronger than her appearance. Irene raised an eyebrow “I don’t belong to the heavens I believe that I am different from all of you. And I do not think I could cooperate with you.” She gave a death glare to Irene.

                Josh looked at Adrianne “Like you said, you do not belong to the Heavens so you don’t have the right to oppose us either, daughter of Hades.” He said ‘Hades’ with anger in his voice.

               Leigh pushed her chair back and stood up “Do not say my father’s name with no respect. No matter what happened a father is a father.” Leigh said with anger and she glared daggers at Josh.

               Josh stood up as well he banged the table with his fist “All gods are the same they abandon their children. So don’t act like your father is better than mine, because he’s not even comparable.” Josh said to Leigh with bitterness in his tone.

               “They may not care about their children much but at least I know mine did better things to help me than yours, don’t speak ill of me and my Father. Don’t anger me because I’m worse than you when I’m angry!” Leigh screamed at Josh matching his bitter tone.

                “Don’t you dare think that in any way you are better than me, you will never be!” He screamed.

                Natasha banged the table trice “Okay, stop!” she screamed at them “Enough with the differences.” She added and Lucas looked at Joshua with pleading eyes Joshua sat down and so did Leigh. Natasha took a deep breath “I know we’re all different but please as much as possible, try to cooperate. Josh, try to consider how we all feel.” She told Josh, his expressions slowly softened and he managed a nod.

                Lucas smiled at Natasha and stood up as well “Irene, emotion control please. If you can hold it back I know Joshua can do it as well. You matter to him as long as he knows you’re alright Joshua won’t get too angry.” Lucas said to Irene and Irene nodded. Lucas looked at Leigh “I believe you can defend yourself, daughter of Hades but not too much.” Lucas said to her with a soft and kind tone even Leigh smiled softly.

               Lucas can understand the feeling of being not wanted and so he understood Leigh. He wanted to say something earlier but Natasha could’ve screamed at him too, somehow he didn’t want that. He didn’t want Natasha to be angry at him and he didn’t know why. Perhaps he was just afraid of her and what she’s capable of doing. Lucas hated this feeling, the feeling of being afraid of something. Especially for a friend he wanted to protect desperately but he feels like he didn’t need to protect her. She has grown so much in just a few weeks he thought to himself.      

               They all left the pub and everyone gave a share of money for the food, camp was made and there were already many of them. Zoie started to make a barrier around them all casting the same spell she did before. Lucas took care of the fire with Natasha; Cheska, Nicole, Jolo, and Jared took care of the tents. Nikki fixed their things and made sure everything they need is there or else they have to restock tomorrow. Josh, Carl, and Irene created traps outside the barrier just in case and they had Bea and Leigh with them. Josh, Irene, and Leigh were never in good terms.

               Carl decided to work with Bea on a booby trap and left the other three to talk and settle things with each other and fix their issues. Carl was the son of Poseidon and he began to dig a hole with Bea, and the other three fixed some wires around the barrier. Carl looked at Bea “What are you not used to struggling hard and getting yourself covered in dirt?” he asked her.

               Bea pushed her hair back and tied it in a ponytail “I’m just trying to adjust to this kind of life.” Bea said with a soft smile.

               Irene, Josh, and Leigh weren’t talking much Irene kept giving death glares to Leigh and then Leigh got distracted she accidentally cut her finger in one of the spikes on the wire. Josh rolled his eyes and sighed “Let me help you with that.” He said as he leaned to the wires, he took Leigh’s wounded finger and took a handkerchief from his pocket and ripped it in half he tied the small piece of the handkerchief around Leigh’s finger. He looked at her “Take care of yourself, will you?” He looked at her with a little irritation.

               Leigh looked at her finger “I guess, he is kind after all and you just have to understand him.” Leigh muttered to herself making sure no one heard her.

               After they set up the traps everything was ready the camp was fixed and Bea cleaned herself inside the tent and went out all cleaned her hair was still tied Carl slightly laughed when he saw Bea. Irene sat beside Leigh and it made Leigh look at her weirdly “You must be lost.” Leigh said to Irene mercilessly.

               Irene rolled her eyes “I’m not lost; I’m here to tell you something.” Irene told to Leigh trying to avoid anyone from hearing.

                Leigh moved away from Irene a little bit “What do you have to tell me?” she said looking at Irene confused.

               “Stay away from Josh; I know what you’re trying to do. Do you want to get his attention that bad, are you desperate?”

               “Are you kidding me? I don’t even like him and you think I’m in love with him led alone try to get his attention? I never tried to steal him from you.”

               “Listen well, I’m his girlfriend and you’re nothing compared to me. He may have a side on him that’s kind but that’s what he wants you to think. He’s just playing with you and you better not entertain him. I don’t like girls flirting with him, especially your type of girls.”

               “What do you mean by my type? Excuse me.” Leigh stood up angrily but she tried to hide how she felt.

               Irene grabbed her wrist tight “I’m not done talking to you yet.” Irene said to her and Leigh pulled away hard causing Irene to slightly twist her hand “What the hell?!” she screamed loud and everyone heard, Joshua stood beside Irene making a death glare at Leigh. Lucas stood beside Leigh so did Natasha.

               Lucas looked at Irene “I need an explanation from both of you, what happened?” Lucas asked both of them then he looked at Joshua to step back.

               Irene shook her head “It wasn’t my fault I swear. I just wanted to fix what happened earlier, and when I came she pushed me away.” Irene said obviously making up a lie to make Leigh look like the evil one.

               Bea stood up “That’s a lie.” Bea said to Irene shaking her head.

               Joshua couldn’t hold it back anymore “So you’re calling her a liar?” Joshua asked Bea furiously.

               Caden closed the book he was reading “Don’t call Bea a liar, daughters of Nemesis have this ability to feel the emotions of a person that causes vengeance like wrath, suffering, hurt, and lies. She can feel it and if I were you I’d trust what she’s saying.” Caden said to everyone as he looked at Bea.

              Lucas looked at Leigh “And what do you have to say, Leigh?” Lucas asked Leigh.

              Leigh shook her head “I don’t have to say anything except for ‘I’m innocent’.” Leigh told Lucas softly with a soft sigh.

              Natasha nodded “We both believe you Leigh.” Natasha said to Leigh “Lucas, what’ll we do with Irene and Josh?” Natasha whispered to Lucas.

              “Josh, could you talk to Irene for a while, please?” he asked Joshua pleadingly.

              Joshua nodded at Lucas and grabbed Irene’s wrist softly “Sure” Joshua pulled her away and asked Zoie to open the barrier so they can talk privately.

              Natasha looked at Lucas “Will they be alright alone?” Natasha asked Lucas with a soft voice.

             Lucas nodded and patted Natasha’s head “They’ll be alright; let’s just let them talk for awhile.” Lucas replied to Natasha and smiled softly.

             Everyone got back to what they were doing before the fight started Natasha was talking to Lucas and Caden was sharpening Glaudia. Nicole was with her sister and Jared reading a book learning more about the Greeks. Leigh was talking to Bea and Carl until Leigh stood up so did Natasha and Lucas. Bea looked confused but even her body tensed “I sense near death.” Leigh said, her eyes were sad and lonely.

              Zoie shut down her barrier and heard a rattle in the bushes, it was Joshua. Joshua looked at everyone his eyes were filled with shock his hand was covering the right side of his stomach where his upper right abdomen is located with his left hand, Lucas looked at Joshua “What happened Josh?” Lucas asked concerned.

             He removed his left hand from his upper right abdomen area and he looked at his hand covered in blood, He lost conscious right there good thing Leigh caught him she ended up hugging him supporting him, he was stabbed. He was practically bleeding to death. Leigh looked back at Natasha “He’s dying.” Leigh said to everyone.

8: Meeting The Sky And The Rise Of Hatred

               The time Joshua woke up he was inside a tent and Leigh was tending to his wound, he was shirtless and a bandage was wrapped around his stomach covering his wound. Lucas walked in holding a bowl of warm water and a white handkerchief, Lucas sighed in relief when he saw Joshua’s eyes open. Lucas dropped the water on the floor beside Joshua. He tried to sit up but Leigh slowly put her hand on his shoulder “Don’t get up, your wound will reopen and we’ll have to stitch it again.” She told to him as soft as possible.

                Joshua didn’t expect this from a daughter of the god of the underworld, her voice was soft and filled with concern Joshua realized she might not be what he thought she was. Then he realized he is really bad at judging people. He nodded softly and laid back down “Thank you, Leigh.” He smiled softly at her.

                Lucas looked at Joshua “Do you want to tell us what happened or do you want to keep silent about this?” he asked Joshua.

                Joshua nodded “I will tell you all.” He looked at Lucas and Lucas nodded softly he called everyone in the tent. Natasha sat beside Lucas and looked at Joshua curiously “It was Irene.” He said looking guilty he closed his eyes stopping tears from falling.

               Natasha held Joshua’s hand comforting him softly “it is okay, keep going.” Natasha said to Joshua as soft as possible.

               “Irene stabbed me when we were talking privately. It happens to be that she works for the rebellion and she had a mission to deceive me, but she lost it she hated those daughters of the minor gods and goddesses because she thinks their weak. I should’ve realized that she was only using me.” Joshua said as he looked at Natasha pleadingly.

               Natasha looked at him softly; Lucas slowly pulled away Natasha’s hand Joshua was holding “Sorry Joshua, I just can’t stand it.” He smiled at Joshua and he nodded.

               Then Natasha stood up so did Lucas he headed outside the tent quickly and everyone followed. There were four people there standing in front of them. There were three females and one male. The first female on the right stepped up she looked only about her mid-twenties. She had brown hair with blonde highlights until her chest and beautiful big grey intelligent eyes framed by long eyelashes. She was wearing full body armor with the sword in her hand. She smiled at everyone “I am Athena, the goddess of wisdom.” She said softly to everyone.

                The second woman came forth, she was beautiful and dazzling. She had an oval shaped face and her eyes were big and multi-colored eyes also framed by long eyelashes with prominent eyebrows. She had brownish-blonde princess curly hair that flow beautifully until her hips, her hair was also tied beautifully in a waterfall braid. She had thin and pointed nose and full pinkish lips. She had a slender body form covered by a sleeveless and thin silk Greek dress that revealed her back, her dress had a long sleet at the right side of her dress. She looked at Lucas softly “I’m Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and the patron of love.” Aphrodite said with a soft smile.

                 Lucas’s jaw dropped “Wow, she is truly beautiful.” Lucas said jaw still dropped.

                Natasha pushed his jaw up and raised her eyebrows “yeah, of course she is. What do you expect from the goddess of beauty?” Natasha asked sarcastically. She opened the entrance to the tent and saw Joshua laying in the softly arranged part of the tent. Before she entered someone grabbed her wrist. Then she turned to who held her wrist.

               It was the guy, looking at him up close he was really cute only about eighteen years old. He had ash blonde hair in an army cut, his eyes were as blue as the sky, and he had a cleft chin. He had a thin and pointed nose. He had tan-skin and an athletic build. He was wearing a grey shirt with black pants and brown hunter’s boots. He didn’t dress like a god but he had an essence of one. He was handsome and cute Natasha looked stunned and then there goes Lucas who held Natasha’s other wrist glaring at the god “I’m Apollo, god of light, music, and healing.” He said softly and let go of Natasha’s wrist she pulled her hand away slowly from Lucas’s grip too.

               There was a girl behind him only about sixteen years old “I am Artemis, goddess of hunters and maidens.” The girl said softly. She had the same straight ash blonde hair and big blue eyes that sparkled as she speaks. She was really cute too she looked so young. She put her right hand on the left side of her chest “Is thy still a maiden, young lady?” She asked Natasha softly with a smile.

               Natasha looked at Artemis “yes, I still am and I know what you are thinking. I cannot join your hunt, sorry goddess Artemis.” She apologized to Artemis and knelt with one knee bowing her head.

               “I believe you are right, Aphrodite has already arranged thy path, I will have to cooperate with her decision and not fight back.” Artemis said to Natasha with a soft and warm expression.

               Aphrodite lifted Natasha’s head and helped her stand up “A woman with beauty incomparable, like yours should not bow down and think ill of thyself. You should not be sorry because the decision you have made is a decision you will not regret though it will give you pain.” Aphrodite told Natasha softly with a beautiful smile.

                Natasha nodded softly and Apollo smiled at her “Aphrodite, I think we should not waste time we came here for a reason. But I think I will come again for another.” Apollo said looking at Natasha.

                Artemis hit his head “You are not the one destined for her, Apollo.” Artemis said to her brother.

               Athena stepped forth once again in front of Natasha “We are here to give you all a quest in exchange we will bring to Olympus, making your journey faster and I will help you grant the favor of Zeus.” She looked at Leigh still not convinced then back at Natasha “We will also help your wounded friend because he is needed in the quest” Athena added and everyone looked at Natasha.

               Natasha nodded and looked at Athena “I would like you to tell us the details of the quest.” She said to Athena.

                Athena and the other gods nodded “Of course.” Athena smiled at Natasha “Since they have already agreed to do a quest for us Apollo please heal the son of Zeus.” Athena requested and he nodded softly.

               Apollo smiled at Natasha “Will you help me, Natasha?” Apollo asked with a kind tone.

               Natasha and Apollo entered the tent and Lucas looked over at Artemis who rolled her eyes “Sorry about my brother, he’s a flirt for a guy.” Artemis said to Lucas with a slight laugh.

               Lucas slightly laughed as well “I wonder how you live with him somehow.” Lucas smiled at Artemis softly.

               Artemis crossed her arms “I wonder how I do it also.” She said to Lucas “Come and we will discuss about the quest, they’ll be over soon.” Artemis added and smiled back at Lucas.

               A warm glow came from the tent and Natasha and Apollo went out with Joshua, who is completely fine already. Apollo smiled at Natasha “Hey, you’re not a bad assistant.” Apollo complimented Natasha.

               Natasha looked at Apollo “I know.” Natasha was tempted to smile at Apollo, they were making eye contact, Natasha and Apollo stared at each other “You know what? You’re pretty cute.” She told him nodding slightly.

               Apollo waved a strand of hair away from Natasha’s face “Aphrodite was right about you too. You are a woman with beauty incomparable.” He said to her softly with a cute smile.

               Lucas covered Natasha’s eyes with his hands “How about you not look at him so close?” he asked sarcastically.

              Natasha sighed “Fine, why are you so protective, Lucas?” she asked and her eyes still covered.

              Lucas slightly smiled and removed his hands from her eyes “Just understand why I have to do this, please.” He said to her with his warm voice “How about we talk to Athena about that quest?” Lucas added and Natasha nodded in agreement.

              They gathered in the middle of camp where there are three tables pushed together filled with food, the gods provided them everything everyone was silent. Natasha sat between Lucas and Apollo. Athena stood up confidently “Well, everyone you know very well we need you right now. Your quest is to retrieve a godly item which belongs to Apollo, a weapon forged by Hephaestus himself. We need it back because the human who bought it from a demigod has no clue what it’s worth. I already decided on a strategy. All of you will pretend you don’t know each other and break in inside a masquerade ball, and the guest has to be distracted.” Athena said confidently.

               Natasha nodded “What will we wear?” she asked looking at Athena.

               Aphrodite smiled “Glad somebody finally asked.” Aphrodite said and sighed in relief “I’ll take care of that.” Aphrodite added with a soft grin on her face.

               Cheska smiled and sit straight “Finally some decent clothes.” She said looking at Aphrodite.

               “Oh, they’re not just decent they’re better than that, they are such beautiful clothes.” Aphrodite said with a soft smile then she giggled gently.

               Jared thought about it “When?” he asked Athena.

               Artemis took a bite of ambrosia “Tonight.” She answered confidently. Artemis smiled “Finish your food and then we’ll help you get ready, I’ll help Aphrodite with the girls. Apollo will handle the boys and Athena will help us with some hidden weapons you can bring inside the mansion. Please cooperate with us.” Artemis said with a cute grin.

               Everyone nodded; right after dinner they went to separate tents the girls and boys. They changed and got everything done by sunset; then they left for the masquerade ball. Everyone was there by nightfall but they decided to go one by one. The first one was Leigh and Joshua, who Natasha ordered to cooperate with each other for the night. Joshua was wearing a black and simple suit with black shoes and a red tie, his mask covering half of his face and was black framed by a red line. Leigh was beautiful with her hair made a little wavy; she was wearing a sleeveless and backless olive cocktail dress, a simple and black mask designed with glittering olive spirals and curves.

               The next one that came was Bea and Carl, walking down the straight stairway in the middle of the front wall. Carl was wearing a black coat and tie with a light blue dress shirt with dark blue straight lines; he was also wearing dark shoes. A plain dark blue ordinary mask on his face. And Bea was wearing a light pink one strap baby doll dress, printed with dark pink flowers; she had her hair braided on a fishtail braid she set down on her right shoulder with cute little dark pink sandals.

               Cheska was wearing a strapless floor-length purple dress and a black corset with black sandals. She was also wearing a black mask framed with patterned purple outlines. Her hair was flowing down naturally on her shoulders her eyes stood out changing color every time. She walked with Nicole holding her hand wearing a sleeveless floor-length blue dress she had blue butterfly wings strapped on her shoulders and a sky blue mask, she looked like a little angel. As they went down the stairway they were greeted with amazed faces and smiles, praises were heard.

              Caden, Jared, and Jolo didn’t go inside they took care of the ‘get-away’ and had to stay outside with a big carriage where everyone would fit. They hid it a little bit far from the entrance so it won’t be obvious they volunteered for the job since Jolo has goat legs he can’t go inside and Caden always stood beside Jolo. Caden wasn’t fond of blending in as well so he decided it was better if he stayed away from parties and balls.

               Lucas came down the stairway first to go down; he was wearing a black tuxedo with a notch lapel and black trousers. He was wearing a plain white dress shirt with folded collars, a black cummerbund and a simple black tie. His tuxedo coat was unbuttoned and he was wearing a pair of black shoes matching his formal attire. He was wearing a black mask framed by a golden line, his mask surrounded his sea-green eyes, and the golden line brought out the color of his eyes. He was handsome besides dressing simple he stood out among all the men there. His black hair was spiked up properly courtesy of Apollo.

                Last but not the least was Natasha, who was greeted by amazed and shocked faces and beautiful praises. Her blonde hair was braided on both sides and had a messy hair bun; locks of curled hair framed her face. She was wearing a dirty white Greek dress; it was strapless and revealed her lower back. She had a thin golden belt around her hips; the dress was floor-length and Roman sandals around her legs. She looked beautiful with an ordinary white mask framed with a patterned golden outline, the golden outline made her green eyes stand out and Aphrodite made her look irresistible. Her eyes framed by long eyelashes, she looked absolutely stunning.

               When Natasha reached the ball room many handsome men were aligned to ask her to dance but she tried looking for Lucas trying to look calm, he showed up in no time and broke away from the crowd he stood behind her and smiled warmly “Let’s go.” Lucas said holding Natasha’s hand and leading her to a table.

              Cheska was with Nicole standing and looking at the one Artemis informed them about, the son of Zeus who was the adopted son of who owned this mansion, Kyle Donovan. He looked somehow sad, they caught each other’s eyes Kyle removed his mask. He was cute without the mask; he had sky blue eyes that trended with his ash blonde hair. He had an average build, his eyes looked sad though, the color of his eyes were so alike to the sky itself, and then he wore his mask again.

              Cheska whispered something to Nicole and Nicole nodded and Nicole took a glass of water and ran to Kyle’s direction. Then she pretended to accidentally bump him and Cheska came close to Kyle “I’m really sorry about my sister, she’s clumsy sometimes.” She said to Kyle keeping eye contact.

               Kyle smiled warmly and looked at his wet shirt “No worries there’s no harm done. Would you excuse me I’ll just change?” Kyle said and headed out he still looked back at Cheska.

               He came back only a few minutes later he tried to find Cheska again and she caught sight of her looking at him with a slight smile “What thought I’ll go?” Cheska asked walking to Kyle without Nicole who was sitting on a chair behaving.

               Kyle looked at Cheska “Yeah, I really thought that. Do you want to go and take a walk to the garden?” Kyle asked and Cheska nodded softly “Let’s go.” He said with a smile.

              They arrived in the garden that had different kinds of trees and bushes with blooming flowers. There was a fish pond filled with beautiful and colorful fishes. A fountain in the middle of the pond the water was beautiful. Cheska was amazed by the beautiful garden “Wow, it’s beautiful.” She said looking at Kyle.

               “I just felt that maybe you had a heart for beautiful things and this is the most beautiful and peaceful part of this mansion.” He said with a smile.

               “Indeed.” Cheska agreed.

               “I know you need something from us. You need the weapon my father paid for demigod’s to steal from Hephaestus’s forges.”

               “How did you find out?”

               “Because Athena informed me, I’m on your side. My father, Zeus, figured maybe I could help with your quest. I accepted their offer.”

               “Why did you choose to betray your father?”

               “My father has become greedy; the riches he found and had weren’t enough. He longs to become a god ad so he let someone steal a godly weapon, something that is truly divine.”

               “I will not decline your offer.”

               “Then come with me.” Kyle tugged her arm and she went with him.

               Natasha and Lucas were sitting there having a little conversation and then they saw Cheska do the signal that she found where it is and Natasha nodded go. She looked at Leigh and Josh they headed to a high angle and watched the crowd making sure no one can destroy the plan. Carl and Bea saw Leigh standing on the stair case and they positioned near the room Cheska headed.

                Lucas looked around “I guess we’ll have to leave soon.” Lucas said to Natasha with a warm smile.

                “I guess so; we won’t be able to enjoy it soon.” Natasha said to Lucas scanning the area. Then she looked behind Lucas her eyes were filled with shock. She looked closer at the person behind Lucas also looking back at Natasha. Natasha grabbed Lucas’s hand tight “Isn’t that Jacob?” she asked Lucas in shock.

                He looked back at Jacob; he stared at Jacob with anger “What the hell is that guy doing here?” He asked Natasha he broke her grip, he tried to storm his way to Jacob.

                Natasha grabbed his shoulder “Do you want to hurt him?” Natasha asked Lucas, a smile broke free from her lips.

                “What do you have in mind?” Lucas asked Natasha staring at her face, her smile made his heart stop. He melted inside he could feel his heart softening as he stared at that soft smile.

                Jacob probably lost control, he stormed his way to Lucas and Natasha “What are you guys doing here?” Jacob asked Natasha and Lucas with slight anger in his voice, jealousy probably.

               Lucas looked over at Jacob “What do you care?” Lucas said squeezing Natasha’s hand.

               “You do know she doesn’t belong to you she was promised to me, right?” Jacob asked Lucas with a challenging tone.

               Natasha looked at Jacob “I was promised to you within a year’s time.” Natasha told Jacob “So before that, I do not belong to you.” Natasha added hiding behind Lucas.

               Lucas stared at Jacob and stood tall “You heard her didn’t you?” Lucas asked Jacob angrily.

               Then someone grabbed Lucas’s shoulder “Lucas, Cheska’s coming prepare to go and try to find Nicole she’s out here somewhere.” Carl said letting go of Lucas’s shoulder.

               Natasha nodded “Let’s go Lucas” Natasha said to Lucas holding his hand softly “We’ll meet again soon, Jacob.” Natasha said to Jacob “I guess you failed to be the first one to make me smile Jacob.” Natasha added pulling Lucas away from Jacob.

               “So that was your plan?” Lucas asked Natasha looking at her cutely with a soft smile.

               “Yes, he told me he liked me I realized if he really did like me he’d be jealous it turns out he really does like me.” Natasha said looking at Lucas.

               “I can feel that he’s still watching so why not do this?” he wrapped his right hand on her hips.

               Natasha pulled away blushing “Hey” she said looking back at Jacob who balled his fist and stared daggers at Lucas.

               Lucas slightly laughed “Let’s not linger, Nicole’s right there.” Lucas pointed on a chair with a little girl sitting on it behaving it was Nicole. Natasha caught Nicole’s wrist “Let’s go Nicole the mission is almost done.” Lucas said to Nicole heading for the exit. Then Chaska walked catching up to them holding a sword with Kyle walking beside her too. Leigh and Josh went up as soon as they saw everyone heading for the door on top of the stairs. Bea and Carl walked behind everyone else, trying to hide the sword on Cheska’s hand.

               Kyle opened the door and everyone went out, Jacob caught sight of them leaving and he followed after a few seconds. Everyone was heading for the carriage until someone grabbed Natasha’s wrist she tried to pull away, she turned to see it was Jacob “Let go” she told Jacob trying to loosen his grip.

                “I won’t let go until you talk to me alone, please Natasha.” Jacob pleaded her looking at Lucas to walk away.

               Natasha looked at everyone who stopped walking “fine, everyone go now if I’m not back in five minutes go on without me.” Natasha told them all and they followed her orders.

              Lucas looked back at Natasha “Take care, and if you’re not back in five minutes I’ll stay behind and find you.” Lucas said to Natasha not waiting for her reply.

              Jacob pulled her to a place where no one could see them; he took her behind a few numbers of trees “I need to tell you to stay away from Lucas, that guy’s dangerous.” Jacob told Natasha scolding her.

              “You don’t have the right to tell me that” She pulled her arm away and broke free “You can’t tell me to stay away from him; you do not own me in any way.” Natasha told Jacob shaking her head.

              “Do you love him?” Jacob asked her, the look in his eyes were so sad.

              “No I don’t love him, but he’s my friend and I can’t stay away from him.” Natasha told Jacob as soft as she can.

               “Well you listen; I hated it when you pretended to be strangers when we met this year. It hurts me because we were friends before too, before my father died. We used to be closer than we are now. Bea wanted to find you once again and I can tell she succeeded, she seems happier with you. And I want you to know even if Bea didn’t convince me to choose you, I still would have.” He told her with a slight smile at the end.

                Then Natasha caught sight of Skyscraper and Skyscraper rested on her shoulder “I should go, Lucas might be trying to find me by now.” She said and ran holding her dress up so she could run as fast as she can. She found the carriage just in time before it left she ran to the carriage then she looked back at Jacob then they left leaving Jacob. Kyle was unexpectedly there sitting beside Cheska “What is he doing here?” Natasha asked Lucas.

                Lucas looked at Kyle then at Cheska “I don’t know.” Lucas said with a sarcastic tone.

                “Sorry for the inconvenience but I’m sure my father will hurt me and punish me for helping you.” Kyle said answering Lucas and Natasha’s question.

                Later on they arrived at camp and saw Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Athena awaiting them. Apollo saw his weapon “Oh thank God you’re back, I mean thank the gods, no thank us, never mind.” Apollo said looking very confused.

               Natasha took the sword from Cheska’s hand and tossed it to Apollo; he caught it and unsheathed the beautiful sword. It was beautiful its handle was plain black with a beautiful shining yellow crystal imbedded in it. It had a sharpened golden double blade it was very well balanced. Natasha stared at the crystal “What kind of crystal is that?” she asked Apollo amazed.

              Apollo looked at the crystal and sheathed his sword “Sun crystal, it glows when the sun is about to rise.” Apollo said to Natasha with a smile.

              Athena smiled at Natasha and Lucas “And now our promise.” Athena said “Please close your eyes.” Athena added with a slight wave.

              Then they all closed their eyes according to Athena then it glow all around them and when they opened their eyes, they were in Olympus.

 

9: Home of Hestia and The Demigods

              They were in Olympus still wearing their masquerade attire; they decided to keep on the mask. Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Artemis led them through Mount Olympus. The city was bright and filled with ancient Greek and Roman buildings with carvings and made of marble. Floating lanterns floated around the sky of the city, gods and goddesses walking down the aisles and streets of Olympus. Soft music played by harps, lyres, and flutes surrounded the whole city of Olympus. They had torches beside each door of the buildings and temples.

               At the top of the mountain the biggest building rests, the building had Greek and Roman designs and carvings. The walls and pillars were carved with historical moments, events, and times related to the gods; like Athena gaining control over Athens, Dionysus with satyrs, and a lot more. They had beautiful carvings all around the palace. The gods invited them all inside the palace as they walk on the wide aisle on the way to the war council room, as they walk the hallways were filled with tapestries, weapon, paintings, and other divine objects.

              At the end of the aisle was a wide room with twelve human-size chairs with different designs and carvings as well. The chairs formed a semi-circle around a warm blazing hearth “ΔÏŽδεκα Ολύμπιοι” was written at the middle of the hearth on a golden imbedded medallion. The gods weren’t present yet until the door from the back opened and the demigods were greeted by two gods arguing about letting someone live or die.

              The first guy had black shaggy hair, tan skin that looked like he sunbathed in the beach earlier today. He had the same sea-green eyes as Lucas; he was wearing a Greek tunic and a golden brooch with a trident carved on the middle of it with the name ‘Poseidon’   pinned to his tunic. He was in his human form, the same as the other man. He was probably on his mid-thirties.

               The second guy was also wearing a Greek tunic and also a golden brooch with a lightning bolt carved on the middle of it with the name ‘Zeus’ pinned to his tunic. He had piercing electric-blue eyes, he’s eye color was like lightning itself. He had ash blonde hair with gray streaks; he was probably on his late-thirties. He had tan-skin and a well-shaved beard. He had the same divine complexion as the other guy. They all figured out that it was Poseidon and Zeus even before they looked at the brooches.

               Then Zeus sat down at the middle of all the chairs and Poseidon sat on his left, when everyone turned to Athena and the others. The gods were wearing Greek tunic and dresses and sat at their chairs, Athena was at Zeus’s right hand and the other took a seat, one by one, the other gods entered and sat on their chairs. The demigods stared at the gods in awe, they all were unique in their own way, and each god had different things to represent.

               When everyone was seated and the demigods all stood tall in front of the gods, Zeus looked over at Joshua who looked back at him and made a slight bow to his father. Zeus then set his eyes to Natasha “What do you want?” Zeus asked Natasha.

               Natasha looked at Zeus and stepped forth, everyone else bowed down to the gods “We want change.” Natasha said to Zeus confidently. Then she looked over at Hephaestus wearing a tunic. He was muscular and had slight burns and cuts he got from working at the forges. He had shaggy neck-length brownish-blonde hair and he had the same green eyes as Natasha. Eyes filled with so much confidence, pride, and warmth.

               Zeus slightly nodded at Natasha “Change is hard to do, I’m afraid you’ll have to work for the ‘change’ that you want.” Zeus responded to Natasha’s request.

               Poseidon then smiled warmly at the demigods and looked at Lucas with his bright sea-green eyes “Lift your head, Lucas.” Poseidon said gesturing him to stand. Lucas stood up and stepped right beside Natasha and grabbed her hand, Aphrodite giggled happily seeing them together holding hands. Poseidon looked at Aphrodite he rolled his eyes then looked back at Lucas “I believe you have something else to say?” Poseidon asked Lucas.

               Lucas nodded at Poseidon “I want a person to be revived; I want her back from the dead.” Lucas told Poseidon with slight hesitation in his voice.

               Hephaestus stared at Lucas “A life is hard to return, her life is already in Hades’s property and it is hard to bargain with him.” Hephaestus said to Lucas and looked over at his own daughter.

               Aphrodite nodded in agreement “You hesitated as well; I think your demand is not really what you want. The ‘change’ that Natasha mentioned, you wish for the same thing. Your heart is different from your mind, why don’t you try using both?” Aphrodite suggested.

               Zeus glanced at Natasha “What is this ‘change’ you desire, young woman?” Zeus asked Natasha curiously leaning on his chair.

               Natasha looked at every god then at Zeus “I want you all to consider your children, help them end their suffering. Send them somewhere safe, where they can be protected so that the brutality the mortals do to us can be avoided.” Natasha pleaded all of them; she still remained her poise and soft-spoken voice.

               Zeus nodded at Natasha and stood up “We have one place in this planet that you, demigods, can call home. It is called the ‘Garden of the Gods’ that has various and unique plants and trees and the island is for our demigod workers and others. We will let all of you stay there if you promise us this one condition.” Zeus said to all of them.

              “What is it?” Natasha asked Zeus.

              “I want you to serve the gods and goddesses. You will do errands, missions, and quests for the gods.” Zeus requested everyone seemed to agree on his opinion.

              Lucas looked at Zeus too “What about my demand?” Lucas asked Zeus.

              Zeus turned his eyes to Lucas “I will grant your demand if you accomplish me ten quests within the year.” Zeus said to Lucas thinking about everything he said. He sat back down to his seat “I will listen no longer, I have more to do.” Zeus added looking at all the other gods.

               Everyone stoop up and slightly bowed in thanks. Then Zeus snapped and when they blinked they were in a totally different place, they were in the island Zeus mentioned. A wide ranged forest, the island was surrounded by the ocean. Lucas smiled when he smelled the scent of salt water. The island was beautiful, it was also known as the ‘Garden of the Gods’, because of the beautiful and unique species of plants and trees that can be found in the island.

               Lucas looked around and looked at Natasha “I smell sea water; I didn’t know you wished for change.” Lucas said to Natasha with a slight smile.

               Natasha looked back at Lucas and nodded “I wish for a lot of things, but I just couldn’t handle all the hatred the mortals give us so I had to make this wish. How do you feel about that condition he gave you?” Natasha asked Lucas.

               Lucas licked his lips “I don’t really know what to do now, but I want to feel Ina’s warmth again.” Lucas said with a sigh “I long for her entire existence, and now I have to work hard for it.” Lucas added he managed a smile.

                Natasha hugged him “it’s alright; I told you that ‘you don’t need to make forced smiles anymore’, remember?” Natasha asked Lucas still hugging Lucas.

               Lucas felt her warmth, her words comforting him and sinking to his heart. He could feel his sadness slowly melting away, this is Natasha’s ability against him. Natasha was always able to make him feel like he was never sad at all; Natasha grew into a very important part of his life in just months. She has turned to the person he wanted to protect every time, she changed his habit of hiding how he felt. He longed for Ina’s warmth but he felt that in his heart Ina’s warmth is already replaced by Natasha’s, that moment he could feel himself really happy he wanted to stop time just like that “I still remember.” He managed to say to her and he slowly pulled back.

                Then a slight smile from Natasha’s lips caught Lucas in surprise he smiled back, then a slight pink smoke appeared then in front all of them stood Aphrodite “So sweet” Aphrodite said “Well that is not my purpose but all the love attracted me, joking.” Aphrodite added.

                Lucas rolled his eyes, and Natasha hit him on his shoulder “Fine, I’ll be polite. What do want Aphrodite?” He asked Aphrodite.

                 Aphrodite smiled warmly at everyone, she just looked so gorgeous, and her eyes also changed color like Cheska “I want to lead you all to your cabins.” Aphrodite told everyone with that gorgeous warm smile.

                Everyone followed Aphrodite and she led them on something that looked like summer camp, but it had more thrilling and cooler stuff. Aphrodite led them to the different buildings around the area. The camp had twenty-three cabins for some of the known gods and goddesses; each cabin was dedicated to each god for their children. It had four infirmaries and stockrooms, a big dining room or camp circle, battle and training grounds, and weaponry, forges, and armory. They also had a big kitchen for the demigods who love to cook, usually the sons and daughters of Hestia.  Then a dove summoned Aphrodite and she brought them inside the kitchen.

                When they entered the small front table sat a handsome young man, they slowly walked to him and he looked at them and smiled warmly. He had warm attractive violet eyes that easily make you feel comfortable. He had a kind face that can make your heart stop. He had dark brown hair with blonde highlights, his kissable lips that looks so cute when he smiles. He had dimples on his cheeks and an average built. He had hands that give of a warm feeling and light touches. He looked so harmless, so kind, and so easy to be with. He had this smile that takes away the breath from your lungs. He nodded softly at them still wearing that warm smile on his face “New demigods?” He asked politely and everyone nodded “I’m Eiron Walker, son of Hestia; I’ll be continuing the tour around camp.” He said to them warmly and Aphrodite faded once again.

                He showed them the potion room beside the cabin for Hecate’s children, where Zoie stayed behind. They had a public garden for the sons and daughters of Demeter, a library for Athena’s children Eiron mentioned that the library had more than thousands of books. The library had about three floors filled with books, tables, and chairs for the people that would like to read.  They had a whole building for communications and machines they would need, a school for the young demigods that didn’t start studying before they came to camp.

                They all split up and went to their respective cabins, to know the demigods they will be living with perhaps their entire life. Natasha went to the Hephaestus cabin which was filled with girls and boys more athletic-looking than her, from working inside the forges and weaponries. Everyone welcomed Natasha and led to her own bunk bed, where she laid down and remembered she was still wearing the Greek dress, she asked some of the girls inside the cabin to give her an extra pair of clothes. They gave her a pair of jeans and a red sleeveless top that had a ‘Hephaestus cabin’ printed in black on the top she wore it willingly, she left her messy bun the way it was.

                The others did the same thing and they all had respective shirts of different colors with their godly parent’s name written on it. Lucas and Carl had to cross a bridge to get to their cabin which was floating in the sea; it was made of marble and had light blue curtains on the windows. The cabin had a flag up the front that had a trident printed on it, they entered the cabin cautiously and there was only one person sitting on the study table reading a book titled ‘Creatures Under the Sea’ the guy looked at them.

                 The guy was handsome he had blonde hair and sea-green eyes. He was tan-skinned and he had an athletic build. He had a thin-pointed nose and kissable lips. He was wearing a marine blue shirt and black trousers. He was wearing white hunter’s boots. He stood up and smiled at Carl and Lucas “Welcome to the Poseidon cabin” the guy said happily “I’m Ace Dane, your brother from another mother.” He said with a soft smile.

               Ace provided them the same shirt as his, seven pairs of shirts to each of them. Then someone knocked at the door, Ace opened it gladly and when he saw who was at the door he smiled “Hey, little lady, visiting someone?” He asked the girl with a smile.

               Lucas ran and leaned at the door “Natasha?” Lucas asked with doubt, she had little scratches and burns on her arm.

               Natasha looked at Lucas “Yeah, I was just working at the forges.” Natasha explained to Lucas.

               Lucas opened the door wide and lifted Natasha’s hands softly “Was it worth it?” Lucas asked Natasha looking worried.

               Natasha nodded softly she tried to pull her hands away but Lucas held it tighter and then loosened his grip “I could say that.” Natasha replied to Lucas’s question.

              “You may say it’s worth it, but I can’t say that. Look at your hands.” Lucas stated softly looking at Natasha’s eyes, he looked worried. Lucas looked at Ace “Can you get me some water Ace, saltwater is best?” Lucas asked Ace remaining the calm tone in his voice.

               Ace nodded “Yeah, I think I have a bottle of saltwater inside, I’m going to go get it.” Ace said rushing to get a bottle of saltwater. He brought the bottle to Lucas “Here” Ace handed the bottle to Lucas.

                Lucas poured the water on Natasha’s hands, she flinched a bit then she noticed Lucas closing her eyes and the wounds on her hands and arms started healing and the wound disappeared completely “Now, show me what you forged. And I’ll decide if it’s worth it.” He ordered Natasha.

                Natasha rolled her eyes and stared at Lucas, she pulled her hands away and this time Lucas let her do it. Natasha shook her head softly “why do you have to be the one to decide?” Natasha asked Lucas curiously.

               Lucas sighed “Nothing, I just want to if it’s not worth it I’ll forbid you from forging forever.” Lucas told Natasha raising his eyebrows.

               Natasha led them to the forges and everyone was gathered on one table, surrounding something that glowed bright against the light. Everyone gave way to Natasha as soon as they saw her; she took the sword they were all staring at. A fine weapon indeed, it had a perfectly sharp blade. It had a silver cross-guard and rain guard.  The hilt was made of a soft handle; the pommel had a green crystal imbedded on it. The blade was obviously made of a precious crystal; it gleamed bright and looked so attractive.

                Lucas looked at Natasha “How did you do this in only a short matter of time?” Lucas asked Natasha looking shocked.

               Natasha lifted the blade “For a child of Hephaestus you can easily forge a weapon as long as you know how to do it, you can fasten the process. I tried the ability but I still got a few wounds and scratches on my hands, even burnt marks but thanks to you it’s gone.” Natasha said to Lucas with a kind tone, she stared at her hands and softly clasped them in her chest.

               Lucas smiled at Natasha softly “Your welcome, now let’s explore a bit, shall we?” Lucas offered Natasha and she nodded.

               Everyone went on to the normal schedule, Lucas and Natasha went around the island and talked about Lucas’s plan to get Ina back. The conversation seemed to hurt him but Natasha can’t help but ask him, she was curious. The day slowly passed the next thing they knew it was dinner time, everyone made their way to the camp fire where dinner will be held, they all took their seats which could be done randomly so Natasha sat beside Lucas on one of the tables in the middle, and Ace sat at the table lifted on a platform with Eiron.

                Eiron stood up holding his cup “Aphrodite requested some new campers to be taken care of well. They are also requested by Zeus to be one of the star campers here, they need more training and we will be happy to give them what they need. That’s why we’ll be having the cabin contest tomorrow, just to show them what we’re all capable of.” Eiron said he lifted his cup and everybody followed “To Olympus” He said and everyone drank from the cup.

                 Everything was amazing, flying belly pitchers that refill your cup if you want more, also flying plates to serve you. The fire was gleaming bright Natasha ate her food willingly; Lucas was eating too beside Natasha. Then many people were headed their way, it was Joshua and the others, they sat close together, just like before. Everyone had that moment of happiness; they all felt like they were home with their far relatives. The night passed fast, dinner was over and everyone went to their cabin.

                 Everyone woke up and it was the day where they are all going to participate in the cabin contest, everyone headed outside to the camp fire to eat breakfast and after that they’ll be able to continue and start the cabin contest… 

10: Cabin Contest And True Feelings

                 Breakfast was over; it’s time for the cabin contest. Everyone was so excited and filled with energy; the teams were divided in three, with at least seven cabins per team. They had alliances; team A was lead by the Zeus cabin that had an alliance with Demeter, Artemis’s huntresses, Ares, Pan, Iris, and Tyche. Team B was led by Poseidon’s cabin that had an alliance with Dionysus, Eros, Aphrodite, Hestia, Aeolus, and Morpheus. And team C was lead by the Athena cabin and had an alliance with Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hypnos, Nemesis, and Hades.

                 The teams all proceeded to the battle grounds where they were given handkerchiefs to hid on their body, anywhere as long as it can be seen, each player had a handkerchief with the color of their perspective teams. Team A was color blue, team B was color green, and team C was color grey. The purpose of the handkerchief is it’s not supposed to be stolen by the other team. The team that earned the biggest number of handkerchiefs wins. Any magical items are allowed to be used, killing is also forbidden just injuries are allowed.

                 The whole island is allowed to be used except you can’t enter the cabins. They are all gathered in one place, the game ends in an hour. When the thunder hits the pole in the middle the game begins. In a few seconds they all got ready to run and steal handkerchiefs and then the thunder hit the pole. The running begins everyone was running everywhere.

                 Everyone split up and ran for it, Natasha ran straight for the forest where she can hide, she ran for it. She leaned behind a tree and tied her handkerchief under her clothes in her waist where it can’t easily be seen. She ran straight ahead and saw Ace standing surrounded by a couple of demigods from the Ares cabin but Caden wasn’t there. She hid behind a small bush and the Ares cabin caught ace leaning on a tree his handkerchief was tied on his belt. Natasha hid behind the tree Ace was leaning on.

                 She slowly untied the handkerchief Ace had so that he won’t notice, and then when she got the handkerchief she ran for it. Ace touched his belt and felt the handkerchief gone Ares cabin hurried after Natasha. She held the handkerchief tight and put the handkerchief in her pocket. She was gasping and then she found herself stranded she was surrounded by the Ares cabin and she leaned on a wall. The Ares cabin looked at her like she was a wounded animal.

                 She looked around and then one of the sons of Ares’s pants caught fire they all looked to their sibling and then, a girl hiding in the bushes took all of their handkerchiefs Natasha produced a big fire and the sons of Ares ran for it. The girl smiled at Natasha “No worries, I’m Kate Czarina Amour daughter of Hermes. I’m one of your allies.” She said gladly.

               Kate was about only fourteen years old, she looked so young. She had tan-skin and waist-length straight sandy blonde hair. She had cheerful and outstanding orange eyes, not bright orange like sunset orange. She had a slender figure, she also looked athletic. She had her handkerchief strapped to her right leg. She was wearing an orange shirt that said ‘Hermes’ printed in black. She walked with Natasha, and then they both got the feeling they were being followed.

               Then someone stepped on a twig Kate ran to the shadow holding a dagger she got him pinned to the floor. The guy looked nervous “Kate, Kate, it’s me. It’s Brandon.” He said trying to get the dagger of his chin.

               Kate still didn’t take the dagger of “Where’s your handkerchief?” She asked Brandon with no hesitation and no mercy.

               Brandon gulped “In my chest” He said to Kate. Kate slowly lifted his shirt with her right hand her left hand still holding the dagger under Brandon’s neck. She untied the handkerchief and took it. She let go of him holding the handkerchief she got from him. He slowly chuckled “I’ll get going then.” Brandon ran away and Kate went back to Natasha.

               Natasha looked at Kate curiously “What was that about?” Natasha asked Kate curiously.

               Kate shook her head with a smile “Nothing, just Brandon. I got us another handkerchief.” She said to Natasha joyfully.

               “Where are we supposed to put the handkerchiefs we got?” Natasha asked Kate.

               “We’re supposed to put it on the basket near the camp fire at the end of the game; we have a lot of time left until we report to the basket.” Kate answered Natasha.

               “Who’s managing this contest again?” Natasha asked.

               “I think Apollo; he usually spends his time here in camp hitting on beautiful girls about the age of sixteen to twenty.” Phoebe answered sarcastically.

               “Doesn’t he have favoritism for his children?”

               “No, he’s fair because his sister’s huntresses are on team A, beautiful girls are on team B, and his team is on team C plus you’re on team C.” Kate explained to Natasha.

               “What does it have to do with me?” Natasha asked Kate sarcastically.

               “Because you’re cute and he likes cute girls, but never mind that. We have more handkerchiefs to steal.” Kate said with a cute laugh.

               Then someone clasped their hand on Natasha’s and Kate’s mouth he whispered at them “Shush, it’s alright someone’s just chasing me.” The guy said to them, Kate was panicking but Natasha grabbed Kate’s hand and Kate calmed down. Natasha was sure of this, it was the only voice she wanted to hear since this morning, it was Lucas’s voice. She wanted to hear him again; she wanted to hear his voice assuring her it’s alright since the game started.

               Three of the huntresses passed by and kept on going, ignoring them. Maybe they didn’t see them, and kept on going. Lucas let them go “What the heck Lucas?” Natasha asked him, slipping her hand on his belt.

                Lucas smiled at Natasha and hugged her tight “I’m glad I found you” He whispered to her softly. He pulled back “Was it fun, the games, for you?” Lucas asked Natasha. He touched Natasha’s hand that was pick-pocketing his pockets.

               Natasha pulled her hand away from his pocket “I can’t say, but it’ll be fun once I get your handkerchief. So, if you want me to have fun hand over your handkerchief.” She said stretching out her hand.

               Lucas nodded and smiled “I’ll hand it over if you find it.” Lucas said and sat down in front of Natasha.

               Natasha looked at him suspiciously “it’s under your pants, isn’t it?” Natasha asked Lucas raising an eyebrow.

              Lucas looked shocked and he crossed his arms “and how did you find out?” Lucas asked Natasha.

              “I was pick-pocketing you, so I practically felt it.” Natasha answered Lucas hesitantly.

              “So you felt what was under my pants?”

              “It’s not like that”

              “So you were a pervert?” Lucas asked Natasha and he stood up as fast as he can.

              “Nope, never was. But can we please stop the argument, Kate is listening?” She looked at Kate who was sitting behind her.

              Kate smiled at them “Oh no, keep going it was a nice movie.” Kate said sarcastically she stood up. She looked at Lucas “Wait, aren’t you from a different team?” Kate asked.

              Lucas nodded softly “Yeah, but I have no plans on stealing Natasha’s handkerchief.” Lucas said with a warm smile. Lucas looked at Natasha “Ace told me you succeeded in stealing his handkerchief, nice job.” Lucas patted Natasha’s back slowly.

              Natasha hit his arm “Nah-ah, I know you’re trying to feel where my handkerchief is. You can never find it you pervert.” She said to Lucas, they continued on walking and hiding from the others Natasha succeeded on getting thirty-five handkerchiefs and Lucas got twenty-five. A whole hour passed and they reported to the basket.

                Everyone slipped the handkerchiefs they got, before Natasha reported they found out that Lucas’s team was ten handkerchiefs higher than Natasha’s. If they turn in their handkerchiefs it would be a tie. Lucas hid behind the tree and handed his handkerchief to Natasha “Take it Tasha, take it and you win.” He offered Natasha with a smile. Natasha shook her head, and then he slipped his handkerchief in Natasha’s back pocket.

                They all reported to the basket and put everything in the basket, it was a tie. Then Ace caught sight of the handkerchief inside Natasha’s pocket, Ace hugged Natasha and tried to get the handkerchief out of her pocket. Lucas pushed Ace away from Natasha angrily, Ace staggered “it’s nothing brother, just the handkerchief.” He put the handkerchief inside basket C and Natasha’s team was announced the winner.

               Everyone from team C was happy and joyous Natasha looked at Lucas with pleading eyes she hugged him tight, he once again felt her warmth. She was so close to him, he could feel his heart once again making a wild back-flip. He felt it skipping a beat; he hugged her back when he woke up this morning he woke up dreaming she was beside him. He wanted to tell her that when he found her. He searched for handkerchiefs alone, he wanted to find her and when he did he was so relieved.

               She pulled back “Thank you but I didn’t need your help. I was ready for a tie breaker but then you gave us a sure win. I don’t know why you do this for me.” Natasha told him as soft as she can.

               Bea and Leigh hugged her from the back “Hurray, we won thanks to you Natasha.” They both said to her with big smiles.

               Lucas smiled at all of them and walked away. They all went back to their normal routines and doing. Lucas went back to his cabin and stared at the window. He thought about how long he’s been with Natasha probably only a few weeks. How can it be that quick? He thought to himself. He watched the sea, the sun making the sea gleam he couldn’t help but smile. He thought about two things he love the most the sea and her. Not Ina, not anymore, he thought about Natasha, he thought about how he felt about her.

               That moment he knew how he felt about her, he was wondering when he can tell her one day. Do you want to know how he felt about her? He smiled at himself; he loves Natasha with all his heart…

11: Aphrodite's Heart

               Lucas just stared at the window and smiled at himself. Someone knocked at the door and entered he smiled at Lucas shyly and slowly bowed down “I just wanted to give this to Ace.” He said and dropped an envelope on the table, it looked confidential. Lucas just stared at the window again thinking about how he’d tell her. The guy smiled at Lucas and sat beside Lucas “You look in love” He told Lucas with another soft smile.

               Lucas looked at the guy “How’d you know? And who are you by the way?” Lucas asked the guy with a polite smile.

               The guy smiled back and offered a hand “I’m Nicholas McKinley, son of Aphrodite.” Nicholas said to Lucas and Lucas shook hands with him. Nicholas was completely handsome with his dark blonde hair and charming face. Like Cheska he had those eyes that changed color every time, he had those multi-colored eyes. He had an average hair cut that matched his average body built and tan skin.

               Lucas smiled at him “Lucas Hunter, son of Poseidon.” Lucas said to Nicholas politely “Now, how’d you know I’m in love?” Lucas asked Nicholas curiously.

               Nicholas slightly laughed “I’m the son of the goddess of love. I can see from your eyes that you’re happy because of someone or an inspiration. You have this warm feeling; I can give you advice if you want?” Nicholas offered politely.

               “What kind of advice?” Lucas asked curiously.

               “Here, at night before the sun rises, go to her cabin and bring her to the roof sighting the sea and just talk to her. Make her fall in love with you, sweep her feet of the ground. Act soft, caring, and kind around her prove to her that you’re worth loving.” Nicholas advised and slightly laughed.

               “I don’t think that’ll work around her.”

               “Why not?”

               “She’s good at reading people’s expressions, she can tell what you’re thinking just by looking at you or examining the tone of your voice. And she has this effect on me, if I act caring around her I get caught on my own trap I’m the one that falls for her even more. Every time she wants something I always the urge to make it come true.” He said as he looked at the sea and smiled every time he thought about Natasha.

               Nicholas laughed softly “Okay, now that’s what I call love sick.” Nicholas said laughing hard, Lucas laughed as well. After a few minutes of talking, he finally said good bye “I’ll be going then I only came to drop the envelope anyways.”  He said leaving the cabin slowly.

              Lucas stood up and walked around the island, he caught sight of Natasha’s cabin and knocked the children of Hephaestus were all trying to heal their burns and Lucas saw a girl holding Natasha’s clothes, the girl told her that Natasha asked her to bring the clothes to Natasha in the falls with the other girls from different cabins. Lucas volunteered to take the clothes to Natasha instead. He walked around and caught sight of the girls in the falls wearing white sleeveless tops and shorts of different colors, the ran around and bathed at the falls.

                Natasha was under the falls and the water softly dropped on her back, she was standing there her eyes closed and she looked so relaxed. Then she opened her eyes “Hey Lucas!” She shouted to Lucas’s direction, as he expected she sensed him soon enough.

                Lucas smiled at Natasha “Hey, brought your clothes” He shouted at her. He remembered Nicholas’s words: Sweep her feet of the ground he had said to Lucas with a warm smile. Lucas headed to the falls and Natasha swam to him “You want to go? You’ll catch a cold if you stay too long.” He warned Natasha with a soft smile. He knew he didn’t need to act like he cared when he’s around her, he always cared he couldn’t help it.

               Natasha went out of the water and took out a towel from Lucas and wrapped herself with it “yeah, I’ll just go change up and we can go to lunch together, okay?” She asked Lucas with a cheerful tone but he didn’t get the smile he was waiting for once again, he just knew she was happy.

               Lucas dropped Natasha to her cabin and she came out dressed in blue tattered shorts and a red sleeveless top one size bigger than her size, the shirt had the number ‘23’ on the back which is her cabin number and Hephaestus written at the front and was wearing white hunter’s boots properly. Her shoelace was a bit loose though, Lucas had to kneel down and tie her shoelace for her just because he wanted to. They went to the dining room and ate lunch; Lucas would miss moments like this where he and she can talk together naturally. They were like long time friends talking about the past and the future, Lucas was happy every time he’s with her.

               He thought about why he fell in love with her and just by looking at Natasha’s eyes he knew the answer. He fell in love with her because she was natural, she doesn’t pretend to be someone she’s not. Lucas fell in love with her because she’s Natasha, because she was naturally kind and caring she didn’t have to pretend to be nice it came out naturally. She was the kind of person who was easy to love but then he remembered Jacob, his greatest threat to Natasha, the thought made him hold Natasha’s hand tight. She looked at Lucas concerned “What happened?” She asked softly to Lucas with a soft expression.

               Lucas slightly laughed and loosened his grip on her hand he slowly stroked her face with his other hand “This must be the reason why.” Lucas muttered slowly letting go of Natasha’s hand and sat a few centimeters away from Natasha.

               Natasha looked at Lucas confused “I don’t get it at all” Natasha told him and Lucas just laughed softly. Natasha then retrieved her poise and sighed softly “So, do you have a plan on getting Ina back?” Natasha asked Lucas softly.

                The sound of Ina’s name stabbed Lucas in the chest, Natasha saying Ina’s name was painful for him. It’s like the girl he loves now is bringing back the past, worse she was supporting him to get back to her. It feels like she’s pushing Lucas away, it hurt Lucas like a steaming knife stabbed him in the heart. He thought about Ina and ended up smiling, he knew Natasha’s effect on him was worse he never missed Ina as quick as he missed Natasha. He missed her before he even lost sight of her, he wanted to be with her every minute and he couldn’t grab courage to tell her how he felt. But he knew sooner or later he’ll say it when Aphrodite gives him the courage to.

                Lucas just shook his head slowly “Nothing, why are you doing this to me?” He asked Natasha softly with a smile.

               Natasha just ignored what he said and went back to eating lunch “You know, you’ve been hiding secrets from me lately? I can feel it.” Natasha said and took a bite from her scrambled eggs.

               Lucas laughed a bit and took a small piece from his bread “Well, you can’t expect me to tell you everything.” Lucas said with a sigh “If I can only tell you everything you know I would.” Lucas explained staring at his food, he was blushing.

                Natasha took a deep breath and sighed “I don’t really know when you’ll tell me but I still have trust. Trust that one day you’ll tell me your secret.” She stared at him suspiciously.

               Lucas chuckled “Whatever, thanks for the trust.” Lucas said smiling comfortably at Natasha.

               Before Natasha replied Joshua sat in front of them. He was holding a plate of grilled chicken, a side dish corn, and milk bread. He sat down like he owned the table like no one else was there. He looked at Lucas then rolled his eyes “You see her lately?” Joshua asked Lucas.

               Lucas looked confused “Who? Natasha?” Lucas asked curiously pointing at Natasha.

               Joshua shook his head and Carl sat beside him “Nope, Leigh.” Joshua answered ignoring Carl until he looked beside him and waved at Carl and Carl smiled back.

               Lucas suppressed a laugh “You miss her now?” Lucas asked sarcastically.

               Joshua shook his head “No, I just wanted to say sorry to her, about everything that happened. About Irene, I just want to tell her that she and Bea were right Irene is a liar.” Joshua explained with a soft smile.

                Then someone sat beside Joshua it was Leigh looking down on her plate, she was sitting so close to Joshua. Leigh looked nervous, then Bea sat in front of Carl and they smiled at each other. Leigh then moved a bit farther from Joshua. She looked at Joshua with her olive eyes “Sorry, I was just so shy to talk to Eiron. He said ‘hi’ to me and I guess I ran away.”Leigh said scratching the back of her head.

                 Natasha rolled her eyes “Talk to people, mingle. How hard is it to talk to our second highest, demigod officer here, Eiron Walker?” Natasha said sounding like she was discouraging Leigh than encouraging her.

                 Leigh sighed and shook her head “Thanks Natasha.” Leigh said sarcastically.

              Natasha just looked softly at Leigh “Watch me.” Natasha said and looked behind Leigh. They all looked at what she was looking at and it was Eiron walking their direction.

               Eiron smiled at them “Hey guys, hey Natasha.” Eiron said warmly.

               Natasha looked at Eiron “Hey Eiron, what kind of activities and training can we go through at camp?” Natasha asked.

               Eiron grabbed a chair and sat near Natasha “I think you will be able to handle tough training. Try sword fighting, speed test, wall climbing, being chased by a hell hound, and a lot more. How’s you speed limit?” Eiron asked Natasha, he had warm smiles as he explained.

                 Natasha nodded “Pretty good, I can say I’m pretty swift or just cunning.” Natasha said to Eiron warmly.

                 “I don’t know why but I have this feeling that I want to see one smile on your face.” Eiron said looking at Natasha.

                 “Oh, really?” Natasha said with disbelief.

                 “Yeah, this must be how you make people feel. You make them curious with the blank expressions. I think I’m going to hold on to this curiosity on seeing your soft and warm smile.” Eiron said to Natasha biting his upper lip while staring at Natasha’s lips.

                 Natasha raised an eyebrow “You know you’re pretty cute when you’re curios.” Natasha said.

                 Lucas covered Natasha’s eyes with his right hand “Natasha, look this direction there’s a cute thing here too.” Lucas shifted Natasha’s face in front of his and he laughed.

                  Natasha got rid of Lucas’s hand on her face and sighed “You’re hopeless, but you’re right anyways.” Natasha said to Lucas and stood up “I’ll be going then” Natasha said as she walked away slowly.

                  Lucas stood up too “Wait, what? Say it again.” Lucas shouted over at Natasha and followed her. Lucas was trying to follow Natasha but when she got to her cabin door she entered and shut the door before Lucas caught up to her. He just let it go and went back to his cabin and sat on his bunk bed and read a book about an adventure of a crew ship and the men reining the ship. He loved that book when he was young. He read it before but didn’t finish it so he continued reading. He loved this book.

                 The captain of the ship fell in love with a girl he never expected to love, but the girl wanted to stay in one place. The captain loved adventures and he realized that if the girl really did love him, she’ll love everything he loves. But she did the opposite she hated adventures and even threatened the guy that she’ll leave him if he doesn’t agree to stop venturing. But it turned out different he left her and found another girl who sneaked up on their ship; he fell in love with her. And then, Lucas didn’t finish so now he continues on reading it.

               Then Nicholas came in the room once again, he’s one sneaky guy. Lucas dropped the book as soon as he saw Nicholas come in, he smiled at Lucas viciously. Then he sat on his bunk bed too, he leaned by the window sill and smiled at Lucas warmly this time “How’d it go?” Nicholas asked Lucas with a grin on his face.

               Lucas sighed “Alright, I guess.” Lucas told Nicholas hesitantly.

               “Alright, after I rooted for you all I get is ‘alright’ with an ‘I guess’. How slow are you?” Nicholas asked Lucas sarcastically with a playful smile on his face.

              “I’m not slow; she just affects me too much. I can’t just tell her how I feel I might scare her, you know?” Lucas replied to Nicholas nervously.

               Nicholas sighed heavily “I’ll pray to my mom later, hope you get courage. But even I don’t freeze up like that.” Nicholas said to Lucas with a slight laugh and a warm sincere smile.

                “I never said I froze up when I see her I just remained being secretive about it. I just can’t tell her but I can still talk to her.”  Lucas explained.

                Someone quickly barged in, a girl about eighteen years old like Nicholas. She had honey blonde curly hair that flows until her waist. Her hair was a bit messy like she ran a whole mile to get there. She had big gray eyes like storm clouds from afar. Her lips were kissable and she had a thin pointed nose. She had a slender figure and was wearing a dark gray sleeveless top that had the name Athena at the front. She was wearing white denim shorts and white Roman sandals. She was gasping.

                 Nicholas looked alarmed and stood up fast and ran to the girl, concern was spreading across his face “What happened, Cialina?” he asked the girl with so much worry on his voice.

                 “No time, I have to speak to the one named Lucas.” The girl Nicholas called Cialina replied to Nicholas.

                 Lucas stood up and walked to Nicholas and Cialina “Why?” Lucas asked Cialina softly.

                 Cialina took a deep breath “The blonde haired girl, named Natasha I think, she said she needs you. She says it’s an emergency meet her in front of Hades’s cabin. She said ‘something’s wrong with Leigh’” Cialina said and Lucas’s face was filled with more concern than Nicholas as soon as he heard Natasha’s name. Lucas ran out quick after Cialina explained.

                  He ran to Hades’s cabin and saw Natasha shaking Leigh to snap out of it but Leigh looked like she just had a horrible dream and when she caught sight of Lucas she said his name with a voice that does not belong to her. It was Ina’s voice he walked closer to Leigh’s body and then she changed her appearance. She turned into Ina completely except for sad and empty eyes. She stretched her hand to Lucas “Come to me, Lucas.” Ina’s voice said to Lucas, Natasha took a step back and she stood beside to Lucas.

                Joshua soon arrived and was gasping hard. Lucas’s eyes were filled with sorrow and fear, Natasha was shocked too and she grabbed Lucas’s hand “Lucas” Natasha said to Lucas looking at him with worried eyes.

                “Get away from him.” Ina screamed at Natasha, Natasha gulped and she held Lucas’s hand even tighter.

                She shook her head heavily “No, please let Leigh go.” Natasha pleaded Ina “I know Lucas wants you back but not this way we can find another way to reform your body. This is too much Ina.” Natasha added holding her tears back.

               Ina looked at Natasha with anger “Don’t cling so close to him. He wants me back, right? You don’t know how much I suffered in the Underworld; you don’t know how long I waited for Lucas or how painful it was. I lost my patience.” Ina explained to Natasha her tears flowing down as well.

                Lucas looked at Natasha whose tears started flowing down he looked at Natasha and wiped her tears away “Don’t cry.” Lucas took a deep breath and looked at Ina he pushed Natasha behind him “Ina, you don’t need to do this. I learned from the past months that some things are better to be left unchanged and so is death. I cannot make the dead live once again, Ina. Let me live in peace at this camp.” Lucas pleaded Ina holding Natasha’s hand tightly.

                 Ina shook his head “No, even if I leave you alone you cannot live in peace. Not with the one named Jacob alive. He will destroy everything.” Ina threatened “Do not treat me like I’m just past. You are too cold, forget this girl and come with me to the Underworld, let’s live in peace in Elysium.” Ina offered Lucas with a tempting tone.

                 Natasha shook her head “Lucas, no, don’t go with her. We all need you here.” Lucas stared at Ina with sad eyes, Natasha slapped his face “Snap out if it Lucas, don’t tell me you want to come with her!” Natasha screamed grabbing the collar of Lucas’s blue shirt.

                 He shook his head “No, of course I won’t as long as I know that you need me here.” Lucas said and then Joshua ran to Ina and grabbed her hands tightly Joshua knocked her out and Leigh returned. Leigh sat up massaging her left temple where Joshua hit her. Lucas knelt down in front of Leigh “I’m so sorry about this Leigh, are you all right?” Lucas asked Leigh with concern.

                Leigh just smiled “I’m alright, my head just hurts from Joshua’s hitting.” She stood up and so did Lucas, Leigh remained smiling and she staggered a bit and the smile from her face slowly melted.

                Joshua assisted Leigh “I should take you to the infirmary first. Let me make up for the head hitting, okay?” Leigh nodded and Joshua led Leigh to the infirmary.

                Lucas looked at Natasha “I’m sorry I got you into this.” Lucas apologized to Natasha holding both her hands softly.

                Natasha just nodded softly her expression softened and for once Natasha was not as emotionless, you could read what was going through her mind. She was so sad she broke down in tears “it’s alright, did you mean what you said that you don’t want her back anymore?” Natasha asked Lucas.

                Lucas nodded and smiled “yes, because I have all that I want and need is already right here, beside me.” Lucas said softly…

12: First Quest

              He smiled so gently even Natasha felt like she was going to melt, he always had the cute smile and stolen glances. He was heart breaking though when Natasha saw the sad look or expression on his face it felt so sad and unnatural. That was the most heart breaking part of him, when his smile fades it’s like a storm is coming your way. His warm smiles feels so soothing to the heart, the way he held her  hand made her feel nervous. She could feel her pulse getting stronger and faster every second then she pulled her hand back. She simply looked softly at him “Lucas, why don’t we just go and visit or check on Leigh and Joshua?” Natasha offered him.

              Lucas just nodded “yeah, sure.” He agreed and he walked with her to the northeast infirmary where Natasha suspected they would go from the direction they were headed. They rushed a bit because the sun was starting to set. When they got there they saw Cialina applying a little amount of medicine in Leigh’s left temple where Joshua hit her. She smiled as soon as she saw Natasha. Nicholas was standing behind Cialina.

              Cialina finished up and put a small bandage around Leigh’s forehead her temple started swelling. The two walked next to her, Natasha gave her a soft pat in the back “Does it still?” Natasha asked Leigh with an encouraging tone on her voice.

               Leigh smiled “yeah, I’m okay now. Thank you Cialina for all your help.” Leigh said cheerfully.

               Cialina smiled and threw away the medicine she used for Leigh “No problem, what happened?” Cialina asked Leigh with concern.

               Nicholas held Cialina’s shoulder “I think we should get to Keith. He was looking for you earlier, Cialina.” Nicholas said leading Cialina outside.

               As soon as Nicholas closed the door Joshua sat beside Leigh instantly “Are you really alright?” Joshua asked with so much concern, his eyebrows knitting together.

               Leigh just nodded softly “I just want to go back to my cabin, I want to rest.” Leigh said to Joshua.

               Joshua nodded and smiled softly “Okay, I’ll drop you there and make sure you don’t stagger. You’re kind of annoying me you know, you’re just another troublesome little girl. Let’s go!” Joshua said with an annoyed tone in his voice, he seemed to be annoyed by his own fault.

                 Leigh rolled her eyes “Why are you being cold all of a sudden?” Leigh asked Joshua standing up as he assisted her.

                 Joshua just sighed “I decided to be cold to you; I’m annoying myself and you. Hurry and let’s go.” He said as he held her hand to help her stand straight.

                Natasha and Lucas went back to their cabins, and it was already nine o’clock and almost everyone was asleep. Lucas woke up right at 5:30 am, right before the sun starts to set. He woke up and jumped out of bed he left the cabin without anyone noticing. He ran to Natasha’s cabin and tried to find the window beside her bunk bed. When he found it he saw her sleeping soundly, she looked pretty that way, just like a sleeping angel. He pushed the window up and opened it without making noise but Natasha woke up and sat up “What?” She whispered leaning in the window.

                He smiled “Come with me.” He whispered as well, Natasha nodded softly. He pulled her out the window and they closed the window. Lucas led her in his cabin and once again he summoned water to lift them up on the roof. They sat there sighting the sea right before the sun rises, Natasha stared at Lucas “What?” Lucas asked Natasha softly.

               Natasha shook her head “Nothing, I’m just wondering why you sneaked me out before the sun rises. Do you want to tell me?” Natasha asked Lucas.

               Lucas laughed lightly “No, I just wanted to see you, that’s it.” Lucas replied with a soft smile. He stared into Natasha’s big beautiful green eyes, he went into a daze. He only realized how beautiful her eyes were just now, the way she looked at him now made him nervous. It made him nervous because he already knew about his own feelings and he wasn’t sure about how she felt. He coughed and he saw the smile on her face “You smile now?” Lucas asked joyfully but not loud enough to wake people up.

               Natasha shook her head with a warm smile, Lucas felt his heart stop. He thought about how gorgeous that smile was and how he’d love to see it every day and every time. It was so rare to see Natasha smile, he may want her to smile but he wanted to own that smile. He wanted her to smile because of him alone, he thought about how selfish that would’ve been and he smiled back at Natasha. Natasha got rid of the smile “yeah, I wanted to show it to you first. I wanted to tell you that ‘thanks to you I can smile’” Natasha stared at her hands.

               Natasha stared at the sea “I always adored you, you know?” Natasha said her eyes reflecting the sea, those words made Lucas’s heart skip a beat and do go wild. Natasha looked at Lucas “You were always able to smile so freely like nothing else matters. You’ve suffered more than me yet you continue to smile. I wonder what I lack to make me this emotionless, what do I lack that makes me careless about the faith of those around me? Am I selfish?” Natasha asked Lucas.

               Lucas shook his head “No, you were never selfish. You just can’t smile because you don’t like fake smiles, and your emotions are kept inside, let’s go alone sometime on top of the falls, I want you to tell me how you feel.  I want you to tell me all your feelings, bring them all out so you can smile freely.” He said to her kindly he held her hand slowly and smiled at Natasha.

               Natasha sighed “Okay, I’ll meet you today, an hour after breakfast and we’ll talk about how I feel.” Natasha said to Lucas calmly and softly. Lucas can’t help but smile, he wanted to know how she feels about everything, especially about how she feels about him. But he’s kind of afraid to know, she might tell him the exact opposite he’s wishing for.

                Lucas looked down and back at Natasha he sighed “I’m too excited.” Lucas said with a slight smile pushing away the thought of what she might say.

                Natasha slightly laughed; Lucas loved the sound of Natasha’s laughter. Natasha smiled “Thank you for everything Lucas” Natasha said with gratitude.

               Lucas just looked over where the sun was about to rise and Natasha and he stared at it in awe. It was so beautiful the sun rising, people from the other cabins came out and explored as soon as it rose and Natasha and Lucas came down slowly. Like always Lucas wrapped his right arm around Natasha’s waist and pulled her close. He could feel his heart beating fast, he hated touching Natasha but it’s the safest place for her to be in when he summons the water.

               They landed on the floating house once again. Ace was grinning at them intimidating like asking for details of what happened “So, were you guys there the whole night?” Ace said with a slight laugh.

               Natasha looked down at the floor and pushed her hair at the back of her ear and bowed gently “I’m Natasha Chase, daughter of Hephaestus. It’s nice to meet you. You were the one I stole the handkerchief from, right?” Natasha asked Ace after introducing herself. She didn’t smile and for once Lucas felt glad she didn’t smile in front of Ace.

                Ace smiled warmly and nodded “yeah, that was me, I’m Ace Dane, son of Poseidon. I can say I’m a bit embarrassed to losing to a girl but I guess its okay when it’s my brother’s girlfriend.” Ace said sarcastically.

               Natasha shook her head heavily “Oh no, I’m not his girlfriend. And I caught you in a sneak attack. Surely I won’t be able to beat you when I fought you full guarded.” Natasha said to Ace with no hesitation at all.

                Lucas couldn’t help but smile at Natasha’s reaction he wanted to acknowledge what Ace said but he also doesn’t want to do something Natasha wouldn’t like. So he just nodded to what Natasha said “We’re just friends” Lucas said politely.

                Ace just smiled “Okay, I won’t bug you about it. But you can try eating breakfast first it’s already 6:00 am and breakfast service is starting. Let’s go.” Ace offered Lucas and Natasha gladly came along.

                 They entered the dining room and Lucas sat on the table the same as Natasha’s they were sitting beside each other again. They talked without getting bored, they could talk like that for hours and they wouldn’t notice time passing by. Natasha didn’t smile publicly yet. And they spent a whole hour going around together and they went to the falls. They were on top and then Lucas looked at Natasha “So, tell me now?” Lucas asked Natasha with a sad and serious expression.

                 Natasha took a deep breath “I get angry at my dad sometimes because he decides my future for me.” Natasha started tearing up “But I want to see him again, I miss him, for years he stood as my father and I can’t just deny the fact.” Natasha said to Lucas.

                  Lucas looked at Natasha he couldn’t stand the sight of her crying he wanted to hug her but he hated close range touches. And she had more to say “it’s okay Natasha, it’s alright.” Lucas said to Natasha with a comforting tone.

                    Natasha looked at Lucas with teary eyes “The one I hate most is unrequited love. We’ve been friend before but then he disappeared without showing himself to me for so long” Natasha said as tears started flowing down on her slightly pink cheek. She was slightly blushing “And when he came back I pretended he was just a stranger. It turns out he liked me as well but he turns out to be a threat to my wish.” She added “I love him so much, I love Jacob.” She said to Lucas as Lucas looked back.

                   He ran away she tried catching up to him but it was raining, the sea was roaring loud, there was a storm. The earth was shaking, the tides got stronger and Lucas reached the cabin. The seas roared around their cabin, When Lucas got inside he screamed loud “WHY?!” he screamed loud and Ace entered with Nicholas rushing as if the world is ending, and because of what they know it might end. Lucas knelt on the floor he looked depressed and tired he was gasping.

                  Ace and Nicholas ran to him, Nicholas tried shaking him but the storm continued, the winds starting blowing hard even Ace tried to snap him out of it. Ace looked at him with concern “Lucas, snap out of it. Whatever you’re depressed about we can talk about it, we’ll listen openly to you Lucas. You have an older brother Lucas; I’m willing to help you” Ace shouted at Lucas hoping it will reach him.

                  Lucas shook his head “It’s no use.” Lucas said “She doesn’t like me.” Lucas added he looked at Ace and shook his head even more. He was depressed you can tell from the look in his eyes.

                  Nicholas touched Lucas’s arm “If you can’t stop the storm, think about her with a storm like this she could be hurt. She could drown, she could get hit by heavy things, horrible things could happen, so please calm this storm for everyone and her safety, Lucas listen to us we know how you feel.” Nicholas told Lucas as soft and calm as he can.

                 Lucas looked at Nicholas and they all felt the sea calm down, the rain stopped and the sun shone bright again, but the grey clouds were still there. Lucas then looked at Ace “We can help you, just tell us.” Ace said kindly.

                 Lucas nodded softly and he went outside the cabin sighting the sea he and Ace sat down on 2 chairs and talked about the matter. Ace listened to him and gave him advice like a real brother. Ace would smile from time to time but as they talked Lucas started to fall in love with Natasha even more. At the end of their talk he smiled like nothing happened but then he noticed a tear streaming down his face slowly. He was shocked, he guessed that he was holding it in the whole time; he was holding all of his tears and sadness in. He didn’t want to freak out again; he turned into the kind of monster he hated most. The day passed with Lucas locking himself in his room and avoiding Natasha, Ace just brought him food and water so he would eat.

               The next day he finally went out with no sign of depression at all, he was wearing a smile on his face like nothing happened. He proceeded outside and ate breakfast he sat at a different table as Natasha, he was beside Caden, Jared, Joshua and Carl. Natasha was sitting at an opposite table with Leigh, Cheska, Nicole, Nikki, and Bea. Lucas would steal glances sometimes and smile. He ignored Natasha but it hurt him, his heart felt heavy, he felt like dying. And then Ace summoned him to the training grounds.

                And then he saw Natasha standing beside Ace staring at the training pavilion where demigods were sparring with each other. Lucas walked fast to them but he felt hesitant to see Natasha again, he felt as if his depression might come back again if he sees her. He was afraid to break into little pieces, he was afraid of what he might do. When he got there, Ace smiled at him warmly “Thank the gods you’re here.” Ace said with a relieved sigh.

                Lucas smiled as he avoided looking at Natasha “Why wouldn’t I come?” Lucas asked sarcastically.

                Natasha looked at Lucas and she felt like he was angry at her “You look better today.” Natasha said looking at Lucas.

                Lucas felt the urge to turn to her and tell her how he felt but he was afraid, he thought about how sweet the sound of her voice is. He wanted to hug her tight and talk to her openly like before but how could he. He turned around and his smile melted away “Natasha” he said her name sweetly with kindness “Thanks” Lucas said looking down. He turned his gaze at Ace “Why are we here anyways?” Lucas asked Ace scratching the back of his head.

              Ace smiled at both of them “I want proof of team strength, so I called you both here to try the activities together. If you both prove yourself strong enough then I would gladly give you both a quest from Zeus.” Ace said to them kindly and politely.

              Natasha nodded with no hesitation “I like challenge, what kind of quest are you willing to give?” Natasha asked curiously.

              Ace looked at Natasha and then at Lucas “The quest is a secret until you pass my test, and Lucas what do you think?” Ace asked Lucas.

              Lucas shook his head “No thanks.” Lucas said to Ace, Natasha shook him pleadingly. She clung to his arm and pulled the sleeve of his shirt down. He could feel himself trembling, he was nervous but he couldn’t just pull his arm away he couldn’t resist and fight back. He just can’t handle Natasha he can’t stop the urge to accept the offer because of Natasha’s way of convincing him. All she needed to do was touch him and look at him with her beautiful eyes and he would already give in “Okay, fine.” He agreed and Natasha let go of him and hugged him tight. He could feel himself blushing harder.

               Natasha pulled back and Lucas just smiled at her “Let’s go start that test.” She told Ace confidently. Ace led them on the test where you get chased by naiads, dryads, and a lot more on an open field. When you enter the land or limit you get chased instantly. Natasha and Lucas both entered the field and the naiads came running at them with water following them. The fastest naiad threw the strong wave at Natasha and Lucas pushed the water away.

              The others threw stronger waves at them and Lucas held his sword up and cut the wave in half. The dryads came running after that, plants and trees followed them and vines whipped at Lucas. A vine grabbed Natasha’s left ankle, she burnt the vine and also the vines that were trying to whip Lucas. He smiled at Natasha with gratitude. They stood on a back-to-back position with the naiads and dryads encircling them both. Lucas held out his sword and Natasha gripped her dagger tight, both ready to fight if necessary. Lucas looked at all the naiads and then he took position “I’ll deal with the naiads; you go handle all the dryads.” He told Natasha with a half-smile.

               Natasha nodded “Sure, we’ll go in one, two, and three!” Natasha came running at the dryads hitting them with the flat of her blade or the back of her dagger and then a dryad grabbed her by the edge of her hair. The dryad had a knife in hand and held it on Natasha’s back. Lucas looked at Natasha’s direction and he already had the naiads on the palm of his hand he just looked at them and they fell head over heels for him. Probably because of his sex appeal and the fact that he’s the son of the sea god. He had those worried eyes.

               Lucas took a step forward and the dryad stared daggers at him and he stopped he knew that if he took another step the dryad might hurt Natasha. He dropped his sword and Natasha shook her head “We have to get this quest Lucas! It’s for Ina, remember?” Natasha scolded Lucas.

                Lucas shook his head “I told you that I don’t want her back anymore all I want now is for you to be safe.” Lucas told Natasha softly as he looked at the dryad with a death glare.

                Natasha took her extra dagger she kept under her shirt and cut the edge of her hair with it, she ran to Lucas instantly and burned the dryad. All the other dryads looked at the burning dryad who turned to ashes in seconds. They all turned to Natasha and they did not look upset about their sister turning to ashes and then Ace ran to them. He looked at the pile of ashes “She was not from this camp; she was from the rebellious demigods.” Ace sighed in relief “Nice job Natasha.” He complimented her with a smile “I think we should go talk about that quest on the training grounds.” Ace added, they headed to the training grounds.

                Natasha and Lucas stood in front of Ace “The quest from Zeus says that you need to spy on the rebellion and give us information about them. Spy on them and try to report to us what they’re planning. This is a very tough case, are you willing to take the sacrifice?’ Ace asked them both.

                They nodded in unison and then Lucas smiled “Sure.” He said as Natasha looked at him and she nodded in agreement. Lucas stared at Natasha and noticed that her hair is now shorter than before, it flows until her chest. Her long hair was now shorter than before and Lucas loved Natasha’s hair, it was so long and it matched her. But he can’t help but think that she looked blooming with her new hair. Her hair was cut straight and not chopped.

               Ace smiled at them both “Okay, you’ll leave tomorrow. We’ll handle your packs and the team you’ll take with you. We’ll discuss all the other information tomorrow.” Ace explained to them both “Now go back to your cabins.” Ace said with a soft and kind smile.

13: Against All Odds

               Going back to the cabin was easy, going inside wasn’t. Natasha got locked out again; it was probably because she took time getting dinner. This is one of the desperate times she asks Kate for help. She decided to visit the Hermes cabin, she knocked at the door and Kate opened. People were shouting inside, they had a cat fight, and a fist fight. Kate was behind the door smiling and she looked behind her where her siblings are. Then two guys stood behind her and glared at their siblings, for a moment the Hermes cabin was quiet and they all went back to where they were supposed to be.

               The first one smiled at Natasha “I don’t mean to be rude but could you please take your conversation outside.” He said with pleading eyes “I’m Caidey Cannon and this is my twin brother Sean Cadrie Cannon, leader of the Hermes cabin.” Caidey said politely. He had differences with his brother like his big grey eyes that call attention against his whole appearance. Other than his eyes he looked very American with his tan-skin and sandy blonde hair. He was very attractive and had an average body built. 

               Cadrie smiled at Natasha as softly as he could “I’m really sorry.” Cadrie said. Cadrie’s hair was also sandy blonde like Caidey’s; he also looked very American because of his hair and tan-skin. But his eyes, they also destroyed their American look cause they were violet-grey in color. He had an average body built and had dimples in his cheeks that made him look cute and gentle. He looked at Kate with an assuring smile. 

               Kate nodded and looked at Natasha “I think the Hephaestus cabin’s door is Hermes proof.” Kate explained with a sarcastic look in her face.

               Natasha tilted her head a bit in confusion “What do you mean by Hermes proof?” Natasha asked.
 

              Kate looked at Natasha and laughed a bit “Well, they casted a spell on the locks so that I won’t be able to break in but I know a less-strict cabin, Poseidon’s cabin. They don’t lock it at night because Ace works late at night so I could ask him to let you in till tomorrow only. Is that alright with you?” Kate asked and explained briefly.

               Natasha nodded softly “Okay, but if you drop me there who’ll bring you back here? You can’t walk alone you know?” Natasha asked Kate with so much concern.

               Kate pointed at the twins behind her “Well that’s why they’re here, meet my body guards.” She smiled at Kate cutely with sparkling eyes. A guy came out of the bushes Natasha recognize him, she was the guy Kate called Brandon.

               Brandon stood straight and made a half-smile “I thought I was the bodyguard Kate.” Brandon said to Kate like asking for challenge. 

               Caidey shook his head “Are you drunk Brandon?” Caidey asked Brandon sarcastically.

               Brandon staggered back he held his head “No” he answered sarcastically he laughed a bit “well, yeah, a bit.” Brandon said, he wrapped his arm around Kate’s neck he does look drunk “You know what Kate, maybe you should loosen up a bit, enjoy your life.” Brandon added with a smile.

               Kate wrapped her arms around him for support “How am I supposed to do that?” Kate asked Brandon softly. She helped him stands bit.

               Brandon looked at Kate with those hazel brown eyes “Stick to me and you’ll have fun for sure.” Brandon said he leaned closer to Kate and ended the conversation with a soft kiss on the side of her lips, he blushed but then touched his head and when he opened his eyes he wasn’t drunk anymore. The sons of Dionysus had this control over being drunk and sober. He looked at Kate whose standing there in a daze close to him, Kate was blushing like a red tomato. Brandon put his head against Kate’s softly “I like you Kate.” Brandon told Kate and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

               Kate blushed hard again “I do too, Brandon.” She lifted her head and stared at his eyes, he blushed hard as well “I like you too.” Kate pulled back and grabbed Natasha “I think we should go ahead.” She told Natasha still blushing hard. Brandon followed them both and as soon as they reached the Poseidon cabin Brandon stayed across the bridge. Kate knocked the door and Lucas opened it.

               Lucas saw Natasha standing beside Kate he had a fried chicken on his hand and he looked like he just took a bite. He swallowed the chicken down as soon as he saw Natasha, he chocked and Carl stood behind him with a glass of water “I was prepared.” Carl said to Lucas with a smiled he was holding a book on his other hand. 

               Lucas drank from the glass and stood up straight “What do you guys want?” Lucas asked Natasha softly and politely. He opened the door wide and let them in.

               Natasha looked down and she looked directly at Lucas, she thought she saw him blush, she was a bit worried of his answer “The Hephaestus cabin locked me out, I was wondering if you’d let me sleep here just for tonight.” Natasha said pouring in a little bit of the irresistible voice; she didn’t need to do that though.

               Lucas looked at Ace who nodded in agreement “Yeah, sure, I’ll just sleep on the floor.” Lucas said with a smile. 

               Kate stood up and opened the door “Well, I’ll have to go now I think Brandon’s still waiting for me outside. Bye!” Kate said cheerfully as she closed the door and ran out; Brandon was still waiting for her.

               Natasha stared at Lucas “I’m really sorry for the trouble.” Natasha said, Lucas just smiled at her. Ace was in the table looking serious, writing on a piece of paper the details of the quest they were given. Ace looked over and smiled, Carl was sleeping in his bunk bed hugging a book. 

               Lucas just held her shoulder and led her in his bed “There’s no trouble; I was just up to the point of missing you. Sleep, lots of sleep, that’s what you need right now,” Lucas told Natasha with an assuring smile.

               Natasha lay down on the bed and covered herself with a blanket, her eyes were heavy “I won’t resist your offer” Natasha said closing her eyes she fell asleep instantly.

               Lucas took a deep breath and smiled at Ace, Ace looked at him with a grin “there are extra pillows, a blanket, and a comforter at the closet. Go take it and fix it up, if you need help I’ll gladly help you.” Ace said to Lucas pointing at the closet.

               Lucas shook his head with a soft smile “No, its okay, I can do it alone,” Lucas said grabbing the closet handle he opened it and pulled out two pillows, a blanket, and a comforter he put it properly on the side of his bed. He lay down and slept, at midnight he woke from his sleep Natasha was asleep beside him; he didn’t know how that happened, he assumed she fell down. Ace was in his bunk his eyes closed so Lucas stood up. He carried Natasha slowly like a princes, he was blushing but he had to return her back in the bunk so he carried her to the bunk and slowly dropped her in the bed. He slowly put the blanket on top of Natasha’s body; she was so beautiful, sleeping like an angel.

               Lucas couldn’t help but smile, he stared at her and he sat down in the bed. He pushed her hair back and he planted a soft kiss on her forehead. Lucas heard a voice “So, you’re stealing kisses now huh?” The voice belonged to Ace; Ace was wide awake sitting on his bed smiling. 

               Lucas just sat on his comforter and looked at Ace “Well, I really don’t know. For all I know it’s just a soft kiss.” Lucas said to Ace.

                Ace looked at Lucas and he smiled “it is a soft kiss with passionate feelings. If I were you I’d continue sleeping and don’t worry I won’t tell her what you did.” Ace said to Lucas, Ace lay down on his bed and he slept soundly as well. Lucas lay down and slept again. 

                They all woke up and Natasha ran to her cabin and packed two extra clothes, her dagger, a small pouch of jewels, three small knives about four and a half inches long strapped in her belt, and Natasha also strapped her handmade sword around her back. She also changed clothes and wore a white sleeveless and backless dress five inches above the knee, with light short shorts under her dress. She had a brown belt on her waist with three small knives about four and a half inches long and her dagger. She was wearing white hunter’s boots. Her sword strapped in her back with her pack, she decided to name her sword Crystal. 

                Natasha ran to the transportation to mainland or to building three where she met Lucas, Leigh, Bea, Carl, and Joshua: she assumed that was her team who’ll help her in their first quest. She ran to Lucas with her pack and he took it instantly without a word. Ace led them to a small boat that’ll drop them on mainland. There was a small white mouse in clothes on board and it stared at Natasha cutely “hello there.” It said, Natasha looked at the talking mouse and it stared right at her, they were like playing the staring game.

                Joshua hit Natasha’s shoulder “Don’t stare at it.” Joshua said to Natasha sarcastically. 

                Lucas smiled at Natasha and he looked at the mouse “Well, whatever your name is, shall we go now?” Lucas asked the mouse.

                The mouse slightly bowed down “I am Whiskers, and I’m in charge of making this boat work. And I don’t like people staring at me weirdly.” Mr. Whiskers said as he looked at Natasha.

                Natasha just turned her gaze to Lucas “Well, think we should go now, Lucas?” Natasha asked him and he nodded.

                The mouse hopped close to the tilter of the rudder and Lucas stepped inside the boat “Well, watch your step.” The little mouse warned, Lucas smiled to it and he took Natasha’s hand helping her and she sat in front of the little mouse and Lucas sat beside her, when they were all inside and their packs are with them, they headed for mainland.

                Then Natasha looked at Lucas “Won’t we need Ace of Hearts, Reyna, and the other horses?” Natasha asked Lucas with a worried face.

                Lucas looked back at Natasha, he leaned to her, putting his head on her shoulder “Ace said he’d handle everything, he said that he summoned the horses to meet us by the shore. Now I’m tired let me sleep until we get there.” He explained and he closed his eyes, he fell asleep in her shoulder.

               Bea looked at Natasha and Lucas “You guys are too sweet,” Bea said to Natasha sarcastically. Bea smiled at Natasha and then she looked at Carl “They look so good together don’t they?” She asked Carl with an intimidating smile.

               Carl chuckled “If only she realized,” Carl whispered to himself.

               “Wait, what?” Bea asked Carl, Bea took Carl’s ear and whispered “he likes her doesn’t he?” 

               Carl pulled away and smiled “Don’t nag on me,” Carl complained and Bea looked at him with an angry face “Yes, he does Bea, he does.” Carl said with a very annoyed sigh.

               Bea grinned at Carl and said “That’s interest, but I can’t blame him for loving Na—“

               Carl clasped his hand on her mouth “Don’t spit it out Bea, it’s confidential.”  He said to her, the boat shook a little when he pulled her close.

               Leigh looked behind her where Bea and Carl are; she grabbed Joshua’s arm “Would you guys stop shaking the boat? It’s dangerous you know?” Leigh scolded them.

               Natasha sighed she’s at the back with Lucas still sleeping on her shoulder “Leigh you don’t have to grab Josh’s arm when you scold Carl, you know?” Natasha told Leigh sarcastically.

               Carl let go of Bea and she looked at Leigh. Leigh pulled away “I knew that” Leigh said as she looked weirdly at Josh.

               Josh raised an eyebrow and he did a half-smile, he just turned his head and looked at the sea “Well, I wouldn’t care less if anyone touches me or not,” Joshua said and he looked back at Leigh “unless it’s with feelings,” he added with a soft smile.

               Leigh smacked him in the head “In your wildest dreams sky boy,” Leigh said with a sarcastic smile. She looked at Josh and stuck her tongue out.

                Joshua laughed “Well, I’m not dreaming,” He leaned close to her “hell girl” Josh added with a soft smile, he moved back and looked at Carl.

               Carl laughed and looked back at Josh “missing company Joshua?” Carl asked Josh with a warm smile.

               Josh nodded and smiled back “I miss Jeffrey,” he demanded.

               Carl patted him in the back “it’s okay Joshua,” Carl said sarcastically and he laughed.

               Everyone talked to each other on the way it took them two whole hours to get to mainland. Lucas woke up once the boat stopped and he grabbed his pack and willingly took Natasha’s without a word and he looked a bit cranky about it. Natasha stared at him “What? If you don’t want to carry it I can do it myself,” Natasha said to Lucas.

               Lucas smiled “No it’s okay, I’m just cranky because Josh was the one who woke me up and not you,” Lucas said to Natasha as he hung Natasha’s bag on his back.

                Natasha suppressed a smile “Well, I’m sorry about that, next time I’ll wake you up,” Natasha promised to Lucas and he smiled.

               Ace hugged Natasha from the back “That took time, what happened?” He asked Natasha with a soft smile, he loosened his grip on Natasha but he still didn’t let go. He placed his hand around her hips and his chin was on her shoulder, he closed his eyes.

               Lucas pushed Ace away “Well, I think we should give each other space,” Lucas said to Ace with a forced smile.

               Natasha took her sword from the floor and tied it around her back “We took time because of Whiskers, we had a little problem with Carl and Bea shaking the boat, and also because Leigh and Joshua were arguing. Also Lucas keeps throwing his arms everywhere in his sleep, what a very wild sleeper.” Natasha said with a sarcastic tone.

               Ace nodded “The horses are waiting go ahead and head for East, you’ll reach a camp. And make sure you take care and don’t get caught, return home safely please. And Natasha do not forget to take care of Lucas, make sure he’s well fed and also make sure he doesn’t see Jacob there.” Ace said to Natasha with a kind and concerned tone in his voice.

               Natasha glared at Ace “What do you mean by Jacob being there?” Natasha asked Ace.

               Ace looked at Natasha with wonder in his eyes “You don’t know that Jacob is the leader of the rebellion against the gods?” Ace asked Natasha with hesitation.

               Natasha took a deep breath “What? I don’t understand. You come here and tell me that all this is caused by an old friend of mine who I assumed was a good person. What’s your purpose Ace?” Natasha asked Ace and pushed him back.

               Ace staggered “My purpose is to honor my father and not protect some evil demigod’s pride. If I were you I wouldn’t care who he is or what he did before and just care about how he is now. Don’t be so naïve Natasha, not everyone who used to be good stays good.” Ace argued with Natasha.

               Natasha’s eyes were filled with anger “I’m not naïve Ace. And you’re lying to me! All of the things you’re telling me are lies!” She shouted at Ace with pride in her voice. She wanted to attack him but Lucas held her wrist.

               Lucas held her wrist tight and he looked at her with those warm eyes pleadingly “Natasha, calm down, we have to find that out for ourselves, please.” Lucas said the words with a very kind and understanding tone. 

               Natasha had tears in her eyes, she pulled her wrist away and hugged Lucas “Sorry I just can’t help but reject the truth when it comes to Jacob. Only you can understand how I feel.” Natasha whispered to Lucas.

               Lucas hugged her back “it’s alright Natasha,” he comforted her and pulled back “we have to go now.” Lucas said pushing Natasha to the horses, he looked back at Ace “Bye brother,” Lucas said and Ace smiled and waved back at him.

               They left and headed east just as Ace had said, Natasha was obviously angry, you can tell by her eyes. They got there with only a day, they stayed far away from the rebellion’s camp and Lucas found it better to stay with Natasha who still can’t get over what Ace said. Natasha stood there tall and proud but her eyes were fierce, Lucas came over and sat down beside her on the forest floor “You know, you don’t have to be upset, it’s unreasonable,” Lucas managed to say to Natasha with hurt in his voice.

               Then out of nowhere a guy leaning against a tree glanced over at them “Well, she has a reason to be upset, Lucas,” the man said, his voice was familiar. 

               Natasha was so sure he’s heard his voice somewhere before “Jacob,” she whispered as she glanced over at the guy.

               He turned his gaze at Natasha and smiled softly “Hello, Natasha, how’d you’ve been?” Jacob asked her softly “I know how you feel about me now, I know about what you said to Lucas on the falls,” Jacob said to Natasha with a grin spreading wide on his face.

               Lucas stood up and glared at Jacob “What are you doing here?” Lucas asked him intimidating with a plain face.

               Jacob chuckled “I’m here to meet my betrothed, Natasha, step away from Lucas. I already warned you,” Jacob said to Natasha as he looked at her eyes.

               Lucas held Natasha’s hand tight “You told her to stay away from me? You can consider me a servant and treat me like trash but don’t you ever tell my Natasha to stay away from me,” Lucas told Jacob with pride in his voice.

               Jacob laughed “This is hilarious, ‘your Natasha’? No way, didn’t you hear her when she told you she loved me,” Jacob replied, he stared daggers at Lucas.

               Lucas wrapped his right arm around Natasha’s hips “Didn’t you hear she slept at my house yesterday, we were alone. How much do you trust me Jacob?” Lucas asked Jacob like he was asking for challenge.

                Jacob shook his head “No way, that can’t happen, not now,” Jacob said with a shocked expression on his face.

               Lucas managed a soft laugh “Oh, you know? Feelings change Jacob, don’t be naïve,” Lucas said to Jacob and he softly planted a kiss on Natasha’s cheek and looked at Jacob.

               Natasha blushed and she looked at Lucas’s eyes and he looked back at her with a soft smile and then she felt her heart stop, she could stare at that smile forever and would never complain. Natasha played along with Lucas she placed her other hand on his hips as well “Yeah, Jacob feelings change,” she said to Jacob and turned her gaze to Lucas again and she smiled at Lucas softly. The smile faded and she looked at Jacob again “I don’t think you’re the one for me anymore,” she said to Jacob with a soft threatening tone.

               Jacob balled his fist “Natasha, make sure your decision is right. Because I will destroy the camp you stay in and that will include the destruction of that man you chose to stay with, I will destroy Lucas,” Jacob said to Natasha as he stared daggers at Lucas.

               Natasha could feel the anger in Jacob’s voice “Jacob, answer me, are you leading thins rebellion?” Natasha asked Jacob with a confused tone.

               Jacob nodded proudly “I am leading this rebellion,” Jacob said as he looked at Lucas with fierce eyes.

              Natasha looked at Jacob ridiculously, she took a step away from Lucas “Why, why are you doing this to us?!” Natasha asked Jacob her voice rising.

              Jacob smiled wickedly “I’m doing this to overpower the gods; they have children whose lives they destroyed, their children who died in vein because of the gods’ carelessness. They don’t treat us as children at all we are things they use to gain power and I want to change how they think. I want them all to die and burn,” Jacob said to Natasha with a fierce expression, his voice changing getting more evil, old, and wicked. 

               Natasha could feel fear spreading around inside her body this was a side of Jacob she had always been afraid of, she was afraid of him getting angry. She hated seeing him like this “No,” Natasha said to Jacob with a sweet tone in her voice.

                Jacob closed his eyes softly “I love your voice Natasha, I love the sweet look on your face, but I hate seeing you smile at Lucas. It hurts my heart like I’ve just been stabbed,” Jacob opened his eyes they were of a totally different color from electric blue they turned to silver “You’ve noticed my eyes, every child of the gods who bow down to people who went to Tartarus I vowed to serve Kronos and the Titans,” Jacob explained to Natasha.

               It was peaceful at Olympus; the twelve Olympians had a meeting in their palace made of marble. The gods were all gathered watching the hearth’s flame which showed them what was happening to Natasha, Lucas and Jacob “This is against what we all talked about Aphrodite,” Athena scolded.

                 Aphrodite turned her gaze to Athena, her eyes changed color beautifully from different shades of blue to other colors, and her beautiful angelic face was perfect “I know Athena, but still, I need to give Lucas some courage to get him to tell Natasha. They needed this quest,” Aphrodite replied to Athena, her voice was hesitant but smooth as silk.

                Apollo shook his head “This isn’t just against what we talked about but this against all odds, against what the Fates wanted,” Apollo screamed at Aphrodite.

                Zeus gestured all of them to keep quiet “Respect Aphrodite’s decision even if it is reckless and careless, I believe she has a plan, but we cannot change what is against all odds,” Zeus said and with that the hearth’s fire weakened. 

 

14: The Water Tells The Flame

               Jacob stared at them with those cold silver eyes, and then Lucas knew something could bring him back to his old self, it was Natasha but how could he help. Natasha looked at Jacob with desperate and sad eyes “Jacob, you don’t need to do this. We can fix everything,” Natasha told Jacob softly. The sound of Natasha’s voice while she’s talking to Jacob made Lucas jealous.

               Lucas glared at Jacob and it made Jacob take a step back, he was probably afraid of that glare. He looked at Natasha and back at Jacob “Hey, Jacob,” he called as he grabbed Natasha’s wrist and planted a soft kiss on Natasha’s lips. He slowly pulled away and he smirked at Jacob “Why are you glaring at me?” he asked Jacob like he was asking for challenge.

              Jacob’s eyes returned to normal electric-blue “You—you will die, someday and I will kill you with my own hands,” Jacob exclaimed as he balled his fist and disappeared.

               Their friends showed up from the bushes and they were gasping, Lucas looked at Natasha who was blushing but she looked angry. Lucas reached for her hand but she took two steps away from him “From this day on forward you will keep yourself a meter away from me at all times, you cannot touch me in any way without my permission,” Natasha said as she distanced herself from him.

               Bea looked at them confused “What’s happening Natasha?” Bea asked Natasha.

               Natasha glared at Lucas and then she looked away, she stood beside Bea “none of your business, we shall never speak of what happened, okay Lucas?” Natasha asked Lucas with an angry tone.

               They made a small camp far from the rebellion to make sure they don’t get caught. Leigh built a small barrier around them; she made sure that from the outside of the barrier they are invisible. Then everyone built three tents around a camp fire. Natasha sat beside Leigh and Bea and made sure she was far enough from Lucas. Lucas looked at Natasha with pleading eyes “You don’t have to stay away from me; I won’t do it again,” Lucas said hesitantly.

               Natasha shook her head “Don’t talk to me,” Natasha said to Lucas hesitantly.

               Bea managed a soft laugh “You guys look too cute together,” Bea said happily.

               Carl coughed “well, you guys aren’t going to tell us anything, are you?” Carl asked Natasha and Lucas hesitantly.

               Lucas looked at Natasha “Ask Natasha, I have no problem with it,” Lucas said sarcastically. And then the birds started flying away, the bushes started rustling. Natasha and Lucas stood up and the others followed. They made sure they were holding a weapon. And then came out of the trees a Minotaur, the one from the labyrinth of Daedalus. It had the body of a very muscular human but the head of an angry bull. Its horns were sharp and big. It was like seven or eight foot tall. The same as the one they saw before “Guess I should’ve made sure he was sent to Tartarus when I fought him before,” Lucas said with a sigh.

              Leigh rolled her eyes “Don’t worry guys I made sure he couldn’t see us,” Leigh managed to say.

              Josh managed a soft laugh and gazed at Leigh “Didn’t you know hell-girl? The Minotaur doesn’t only depend on their sense of sight but also scent, I bet he can smell us. Here’s some pretty good advice, run!” Joshua explained his voice raising and he grabbed Leigh’s arm and pulled her close “Stay close to me, will you?” Josh said with a flirty tone. He wrapped his arm around Leigh’s waist and flew her into the air.

              Bea held Carl’s shirt “You aren’t going to leave me here, are you?” Bea asked nervously.

              Carl shook his head “Of course not, why would I leave you here? Do you think I’m that cowardly to leave a girl in the middle of a battlefield?” Carl asked her sarcastically.

               Lucas unsheathed his sword “I’ll take the head, you guys divide the rest,” Lucas said as he completely disappeared and showed himself on top of the minotaur as he held it’s horn like he needed support.

               Natasha did a face palm and ran to the Minotaur with Crystal and stabbed it in the stomach. But the monster threw her away and she fell to the ground the shoulder the Minotaur held was bleeding from impact. Her right shoulder was wounded and she screamed in pain, Lucas closed his eyes and let go of the Minotaur and ran to Natasha. Joshua distracted the monster and began to zap the Minotaur with lightning but this time it seemed stronger.

               He knelt beside her and ripped a piece of cloth from his shirt. He was about to touch her until her voice echoed in his head saying “You cannot touch me in any way without my permission,” she had said.

               He hesitated and then he looked at Natasha whose eyes were filled with pain “Can I touch you?” he asked her with pleading eyes.

               Natasha held her bleeding shoulder “Sure, just make sure you don’t harass me anymore,” Natasha said with a forced smile.

              Lucas nodded and began to the tie the piece of clothe around Natasha’s wound, he had sure it’s not too tight to hurt Natasha and too loose to fall off. He looked at Natasha and supported her up “We’ll talk about that later,” he promised as he helped her. Lucas looked at her “Can I leave you here first?” he asked her softly and she replied with a nod.

               Lucas ran to the monster with his sword he slashed at the minster and successfully cut its arm off “Oh, sorry, I was only going to give you the same wound as you did to my Natasha but my hand slipped,” Lucas said with a smirk. The Minotaur bellowed in pain.

               Its arm began to melt to dust and it started to reform itself back to his body again. Leigh looked at the monster and Lucas worriedly “Sky-boy, get me down there I know a spell to make the Minotaur stay dead for a little while, it’ll be enough time to let us escape,” she warned Joshua.

               Josh dropped Leigh on the ground “I’ll keep an ye on the sky in case you need help,” he said softly and flew away.

               Leigh ran to Natasha and knelt beside her “Can you throw a knife at that monster?” Leigh requested as she helped Natasha stand up.

               Natasha nodded and pulled a knife from her belt “Sure, where you want it to go?” Natasha asked Leigh as she held the knife tight.

               Leigh shook her head and held Natasha’s hand “Don’t use that, use this,” she said as she softly handed Natasha a small knife with a small print at the blade it said ‘DEATH’ in Greek.

              Natasha managed a soft forced laugh “it’s a bit creepy but as long as it’s a knife,” Natasha affirmed.

               Leigh pointed at the Minotaur’s chest “Aim for the heart,” Leigh whispered softly at Natasha.

               Natasha nodded and narrowed her eyes concentrating on the chest of the Minotaur; she imagined the angles of the knife. She imagined the pattern and speed; she took a position and threw the knife. It hit the Minotaur in the chest right in the heart but it just bellowed in pain. Natasha looked at Leigh “There you go,” Natasha said as she smiled softly at Leigh and sweat dripped from her forehead “go ahead, Leigh,” Natasha said as she sat back down on the floor trying to concentrate on something else besides the pain.

               Leigh nodded “Knife of Hades, god of death, I, your daughter, requests a soul to be taken. The soul of that stabbed by my knife, I offer you the blood of this monster, take it, even for only a little while,” she casted as the Minotaur fell to the ground. He bellowed in pain and then turned to ashes. Leigh took a deep breath “Let’s all run, now!” she ordered at them with a loud voice.

               Lucas looked at Leigh “I’ll take Natasha go ahead,” he screamed as he ran.

               Then a group of monsters came running to them and Lucas just scoop Natasha and carried her like a princess and she couldn’t help but blush. Lucas knew she couldn’t walk well because of a sprain that happened when she fell. She didn’t tell him but he knew she had a trouble walking judging the expressions on her face like every step hurt her. Joshua scooped up Leigh and flew her up. Carl pulled Bea’s wrist and ran with Natasha and Lucas. Then the six disappeared and when they opened their eyes they were in a small area among the forest. It was empty except they’re things were there on the ground.

               Natasha looked at Lucas who was still carrying her “You can drop me now,” Natasha whispered and she slowly pointed her finger at his chest and smiled cutely.

               Lucas blushed and dropped her down and slowly helped her sit on a dry log “Sorry, are you alright?” Lucas asked her with a cute concerned face.

               Natasha nodded “I’m alright; I think I just sprained my ankle. What are we doing here?”  Natasha asked everyone confusedly.

               Carl shook his head “I teleported us here, I used a six golden drachmas for the goddess, Iris, to teleport us here. She sure is expensive; we have to offer her something to help us. A drachma per person, that’s what she wants,” Carl explained. He sighed in depression.

               Joshua nodded “How about we prepare camp first and then go home tomorrow? Natasha needs rest and so does Leigh,” Josh said and looked at Leigh who looked really tired and weak “She gave so much energy into that spell to keep the Minotaur from rising again,” Joshua explained as he tried to keep Leigh from falling.

               Leigh held on to Joshua for support “Where’s my knife?” Leigh said weakly.

               Joshua dropped her beside Natasha “wait here, Carl said that all of our things are here, I’ll go find your knife,” Joshua said as he patted Leigh’s head softly, he took a small knife from Natasha’s belt “I’ll take this with me just in case,” he said as he looked around and tried to find the knife that belonged to Leigh.

               Natasha managed a laugh “He’s working hard,” Natasha said sarcastically.

               Carl stared at Natasha “wow, that was cute,” Carl said surprised.

               Lucas made an upset face “Excuse me,” Lucas said sarcastically and smiled.

               Carl laughed and looked at Bea and his face was spread with worry “Bea, are you alright?” Carl asked worriedly.

               Joshua ran to them “I found it, the dagger,” he announced with a smile and he handed the knife to Leigh cheerfully and then he turned to Bea.

               Bea was gasping really hard, her cheeks were red and she looked so tired. Sweat was dripping on her forehead and Carl wrapped his arm around, he slowly put his other hand on her forehead “She has a fever,” Carl said “Shall we prepare the tent?” Carl asked the guys.

               Lucas nodded “Yeah, three tents, one injured or sick and one fine in each tent. So we go one boy and girl in each tent, okay?” he asked with a sincere smile and they all nodded.

               The boys rushed into building camp and even prepared a fire. They all sat on a log arrange triangularly around a fire, Bea and Carl on one, Joshua and Leigh on the other, and Natasha and Lucas on the last one. Then Skyscraper flew down in front of Lucas with a big bag filled with supplies. Lucas checked the bag and threw the medicine to Carl and a small bota bag “There, make her drink that, Natasha, can I wrap a cleaner piece of cloth around your wound and your sprain?” Natasha nodded. Lucas found a thin blanket in the bag and threw it at Joshua “Wrap that around Leigh, she looks cold,” Lucas ordered.

               Joshua slowly put the thin blanket around Leigh “It’s not much but it’s better than nothing,” Joshua whispered as he slowly pulled Leigh closer and made her rest on his shoulder “it’s alright, you’ve done enough, rest,” he said to Leigh softly.

               Leigh nodded and smiled “thank you, I never thought you’d be my friend,” she said as she slowly closed her eyes.

               Lucas slowly wrapped the cloth around Natasha’s still-bleeding-wound softly and you could see worry spreading on his face. He slowly lifted her sprained ankle and also wrapped the swelling part softly and smiled at her “Who knew I could do this to you?” he asked sarcastically with a soft cute half-smile.

               Carl slowly helped Bea drink medicine “Here, this’ll help,” he said as he slowly helped her. He looked at Bea with worried eyes “I hope you’re alright,” he said slowly as he caressed Bea’s face with his right hand. Carl removed his black coat and covered Bea with it and smiled softly.

               Natasha managed to laugh “Is there food in there?” she asked Lucas in a soft caring whisper.

               Lucas checked the bag and nodded “yeah,” he turned his gaze at Skyscraper who was leaning on a tree branch near them “Why do you always come when we need you?” Lucas asked the eagle with a smile.

               Skyscraper answered him back with a call and Lucas smiled. Lucas looked back at Natasha who smiled at him kindly “I think he just answered you,” Natasha said softly to Lucas with a laugh.

               Lucas took out a pot from the bag “Whoa, how did this fit in here?” Lucas said surprised as he looked at the eagle weirdly.

               The eagle opened its wings and closed them again as if responding to Lucas’s question. Lucas shook his head “Ok, fine, I believe that you don’t know,” he responded to the eagle. Lucas scratched the back of his head “Why am I talking to an eagle? I probably lost my mind because of worrying too much,” Lucas said sarcastically.

               Everyone managed a soft laugh “Sometimes, I wonder why you’re always beside me when I’m always by your side,” Natasha said to Lucas with a thankful smile.

               Lucas sat beside Natasha and held her hand “You don’t need to be there for me, all I need is for you to let me be by your side. When you told me to stay a meter from you at all times I felt depressed that you don’t want me to touch you anymore. But I promise I won’t do it again,” Lucas said to Natasha softly as he tried to force a smile.

               Natasha shook her head “Don’t promise, I hate promises. But tell me the reason why you did that?” Natasha asked softly.

               Lucas forced a fake laugh “You mean wanting to protect you is a not enough reason?”Lucas asked Natasha and she shook her head softly “Okay,” he bit his lower lip nervously. Lucas looked directly at her eyes and he blushed “I don’t want Jacob to take you away from me,” he said to Natasha softly.

               Natasha blushed “Why would Jacob take me away from you?” Natasha asked with a laugh.

              Lucas nodded and smiled handsomely “well, I was probably just jealous of him because you loved him and not me,” he said to her and she looked at him confused “Listen, cause I’m only going to say it once,” he warned and he took a deep breath “I-I love you,” he said to Natasha and everyone looked at them both.

               Natasha suppressed a laugh “what was that again?” she asked Lucas sarcastically.

               Lucas blushed harder “I told you I wasn’t going to say it again,” Lucas exclaimed.

               Natasha blushed and nodded “I love you too,” she responded with a soft smile.

               Lucas looked at her his eyes were opened wide filled with both shock and joy “What? You mean like a friend way?” Lucas asked her with a sarcastic tone.

               Natasha shook her head “No, more than that,” she said with a soft smile.

               Lucas looked at her and grinned “Since when?” Lucas asked her joyfully.

               Natasha gestured that she didn’t know “When we got to camp I think, that’s the time I realized. I wanted to tell you in the falls, I wanted to tell you that ‘thanks to you my unrequited love with Jacob is over’ but you ran away so I couldn’t tell,” Natasha said as she slightly blushed.

               Lucas’s eyes widened “I shouldn’t have ran away then, but I was just hurt to hear you say it,” Lucas said as he looked down.

               Natasha managed a soft laugh and everyone smiled. She smacked Lucas in the shoulder “Don’t jump into conclusions okay?” she asked him softly.

               Lucas nodded and smiled. He slowly caressed Natasha’s face and pushed her hair behind her ear with his right hand. He bit the lower part of his lip and moved closer, he looked at Natasha’s lips and he moved closer until her lips were against his. He knew he was probably blushing hard, he was nervous and he could hear the sound of her breath and he slowly pulled away. He looked at her eyes and smiled “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” he said to Natasha.

               Natasha suppressed a laugh “It’s alright, I’m just tired I need to rest I think the others do too,” she said kindly and looked at everyone else.

               They all went inside the tents and made themselves controllable. Natasha and Lucas were in one tent and Lucas kept reading a book as Natasha stared at him and smiled “What?” he asked her as he suppressed a laugh as he read.

               Natasha lent near Lucas and kissed him in the cheek and lay back down softly and closed her eyes “Good night, Lucas,” she whispered.

               Lucas closed his book and laugh “Well now we’re even,” he said as he lay down and closed his eyes as well.

               Everyone was soundly asleep but this is still not they’re happy ever after, outside the camp someone was leaning on a tree. Jacob was watching them and he was planning something, his eyes, were silver and filled with evil. He stared at Natasha and Lucas’s tent “Everything’s not over yet Lucas, you’re going to pay for everything,” he whispered to himself. He stared at the night sky and then disappeared completely.

15: Back At Camp

               Natasha was the first one to wake up, and she tried to walk outside the tent with a sprained leg. She groaned and then looked back at Lucas who was still sleeping soundly; she walked outside the tent and looked at the sky. She took a deep breath and touched her right leg with the sprained ankle; unexpectedly Lucas came out of the tent slowly and hugged Natasha from the back. His chin was on her head and he smiled “What are you doing outside?” he asked her with a concerned tone.

               Natasha managed a soft laugh “I just felt like walking,” she answered him.

               Lucas laughed and Natasha felt his heart beating fast “like a limp?” he asked sarcastically.

               “Well, this is confidential, I guess we should’ve stayed inside a little longer,” someone said and Natasha and Lucas looked behind them. Leigh and Joshua were standing there with their arms crossed in their chests and raised their eyebrows.

               Lucas laughed and pulled away from Natasha “What?” he asked sarcastically.

               Joshua looked at Lucas “You just answer me like that?” Joshua asked Lucas sarcastically. Lucas laughed and nodded “Come here, bro. I’m going to kill you now,” Joshua said playfully. And he chased Lucas across camp.

               They were both running around and Lucas hid behind Natasha, using her like a shield “I feel safe here,” Lucas said with a soft sarcastic laugh. And they started chasing each other like retarded people.

               Carl came outside the tent and smiled at Leigh and Natasha “They look like they’re having fun,” he said as he slowly followed the two who were still chasing each other.

               Natasha and Leigh looked at Carl “Yeah, lots of fun,” Natasha said sarcastically and Carl laughed.

               Natasha then looked at Carl “Where’s Bea?” she asked Carl considerably.

               Carl made a soft laugh “Sound asleep, I couldn’t wake her up. I can’t ruin her beauty sleep, she’s taking her time,” Carl responded softly.

               Leigh managed a soft laugh “You are so concerned about her Carl, and that is so sweet. I can tell my best friend’s in good hands with you,” she said to him with a cute smile.

               Natasha nodded “That’s what I thought, you are so sweet,” she complimented him and couldn’t stop the smile in her lips.

               Carl blushed “Not really, I just wanted to help her as much as I can. Because she’s a princess and she kind of deserves the best,” he replied to them.

               Natasha and Leigh looked at each other and a smile broke free of their lips, then Josh came back and leaned at Leigh “I’m tired, really tired, your boyfriend’s fast Natasha,” Joshua said.

               Lucas laughed and went behind Natasha; he held her right hand tight and kissed the back of her hand “boy friend? Yeah, right?” he said sarcastically “are we?” he asked Natasha seriously.

               Natasha shrugged “I really don’t know,” she answered him with hesitation and wonder caught in her voice.

               Leigh groaned in annoyance and rolled her eyes “You guys should figure it out yourself, this is kind of annoying now,” Leigh said to both of them.

               Joshua nodded in agreement at Leigh’s statement and smiled “if you need advice about girls go to me, Nicholas, or Ace and maybe Eiron could help,” he said and Leigh blushed at the sound of Eiron’s name.

               Lucas looked at Joshua with wide eyes filled with wonder “You know Nicholas?” he asked Joshua directly and smiled.

               Joshua nodded “Yeah, he’s my teacher about mythology,” he answered “You know me, I only know little about the gods so he taught me what he knows,” Joshua explained and made a soft smile.

               Then out of nowhere a carriage appeared Cialina and a guy sitting at the front, six vacant chairs at the back, Lucas recognized Reyna and Ace of Hearts as the two horses dragging the carriage. Cialina looked at all of them and smiled “Ace and Nicholas wants you all back, something happened,” she explained to all of them.  And they all know they heard her speak in British, she has the accent and all.

               They all looked at the guy sitting at the front with Cialina “Whose that?” Lucas asked emphasizing on the guy sitting beside Cialina.

               The boy smiled at all of them he looked British as well. He had fair skin and short honey-blonde curly hair and big intelligent light grey eyes. His eyes looked like they knew everything; they looked like a storm of questions waiting to be answered. He had kissable lips and a thin pointed nose. He looked like he was about 16 years old but mature. “Hi!” he greeted them cheerfully “I’m Keith Gerald Gaits, son of Athena, and I’m Cialina’s full brother,” he introduced with a soft playful smile.

               They all nodded and greeted Keith and they hurriedly pack up their things and put them in the carriage. They all went in and then they disappeared when they opened their eyes they were near the camp fire and everyone was staring at them “I should’ve known,” Lucas said sarcastically.

               They all went out of the carriage to be greeted by Ace and Nicholas smiling at them “What have you got?” Nicholas asked them.

               Natasha nodded “We found out that the leader is actually Jacob Hale, monsters are working with him. Kronos is in control of the rebellion and so are the minds of those who join the rebellion. The once who join in the rebellion and swear their allegiance to Kronos has a trademark,” she explained to Nicholas.

               “And that is?” Ace asked Natasha curiously.

               Lucas slung his bag on his shoulder “they have silver eyes, not grey, silver,” he answered Ace’s question and put his arm on Natasha’s shoulder for support and smiled at his brother.

               Nicholas nodded and smiled at Lucas “That’s it?” he asked all of them.

               Leigh took her pack “No, the monsters have sided with the rebellion and when they get wounded or hurt they come back to life, since their immortal but this time they come back faster,” Leigh added.

               Joshua nodded “They’re really hard to kill, Leigh had to plead to her father to keep the monster dead for a little while so we can have time to escape the danger,” he explained to Ace and Nicholas without taking his eyes of Leigh.

               Then Eiron came running out of nowhere and smiled at all of them and looked at Leigh “Nice job there Leigh,” he complimented. A little bit of sweat was dripping on his forehead; he looked kind of cute and sporty like that.

               She blushed and looked down at the floor “thanks,” she replied shyly.

               Joshua laughed and looked at the three boys in front of them and one of them is sweaty and making Leigh blush. Ace hit Eiron at the back of the head “You are so sweaty, go and take a shower first will you?” Ace asked looking at Eiron like he was disgusted but he ended up laughing with everyone.

               Eiron sniffed her shirt and smirked at Ace “I don’t smell that much,” he commented and laughed a bit.

               Nicholas leaned close to Eiron and took a big whiff “You still smell, go and take a bath before the girls start turning away from us. We have a reputation to uphold, man,” he complained.

               “What reputation would that be, Nicholas?” Cialina asked as she leaped down the carriage and the horses headed to the stable on their own.

               Nicholas grinned “I have a reputation with the girls, don’t you think?” he asked Cialina mockingly.

               Cialina stuck her tongue out playfully “as if,” she answered him.

               Natasha looked at Cialina and then at Nicholas then back to Cialina and then at Nicholas “I thought Nicholas was already tied up,” Natasha said but she seemed like she was asking it as well.

               Nicholas laughed “I’m not tied up,” he said to Natasha and Cialina glared at him and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I am,” he added and smiled.

               Lucas laughed and looked at Natasha “See what girls can do?” he asked her sarcastically.

               Natasha laughed and hit Lucas’s shoulder “yeah, right, you guys are just idiots,” she stated.

               Lucas leaned close to her and he smirked “Well, you’re in love with this idiot,” he said to her.

               Natasha pushed Lucas’s face away from her “funny,” she said and she smiled at him.

               The smile on Lucas’s face faded and he stared at Natasha softly. And he smiled once more “I’m glad you can smile, hon,” he said sweetly to her. Everyone looked at them but they both didn’t notice.

               She stuck her tongue out “Hon?” she asked sarcastically and Lucas responded with a soft laugh. Natasha turned her gaze to everyone else “What?” she asked them all.

               Ace put his arm around Lucas’s shoulder “That’s a son of Poseidon, you nailed it bro,” Ace said sarcastically. He put his fist up for a fist bump; Lucas smiled and accepted the fist bump.

               Cialina rolled her eyes and groaned “There is something wrong with the demigod kings, we should really start changing them,” Cialina said and smiled.

               Bea looked at Cialina “Whose the demigod kings?” Bea asked Cialina.

               Cialina laughed “Okay, the demigod kings are the three personal favorites of the gods. And that would be the three ‘greats’ standing before you,” she said gesturing to Ace, Eiron, and Nicholas.

               Nicholas licked his lips and smiled “Thank you,” he said and made a soft laugh.

               Keith stood beside Cialina “Can’t we talk this over at lunch, I’m hungry,” Keith complained.

               Lunch was being served and the girls put two tables together, and so did the boys. Girl’s table and the boy’s table were separated so they could talk girl and boy stuff out privately. Natasha sat beside Bea and Leigh Cialina was in front of her. Cheska, Nicole, Nikki, Kate, and the others were in the same table too enjoying lunch. The boys table was cheerful also, everyone was there; Ace, Eiron, Lucas, Carl, Joshua, Caden, Brandon, and also everyone else were sitting.

               Over at the boy’s table, “So, how are you and Natasha going?” Ace asked his little brother.

               Lucas laughed and took a sip from his glass “alright, I guess,” Lucas said with a wide smile on his face.

               “Okay?” Nicholas asked Lucas curiously reaching for a chicken leg.

               Lucas rolled his eyes and smirked “We’re doing fine,” Lucas affirmed.

               Joshua pulled the chicken leg before Nicholas and stuck his tongue out “Not too quick,” he said as he sat back joking. Nicholas shot Joshua back a glare.

               Everyone was looking at Lucas curiously wanting more information “Fine, she knows,” he said giving up on keeping it a secret.

               “And he broke,” Ace joked with a smile.

               Everyone laughed “Do not tease me about this!” he screamed out loud as he stood up in protest.

               Natasha looked over at the boy’s table and smiled “Lucas honey, calm down,” she said cheerfully with a smile.

               Lucas made a half-smile and sat down with a slight blush. “He’s totally red, Natasha seems to have power over you,” Carl teased with a smile.

               “Bea has power over you too,” Lucas said seriously. Everyone laughed at Carl and Lucas’s argument about ‘lie’ and ‘true’ and they kept answering each other.

               Ace sighed “Okay, enough Tweedledum and Tweedledee!” he scolded and Carl and Lucas sat back keeping quiet.

               Everyone managed a laugh “So I’m curious about this Josh and Leigh thing,” Eiron said glaring at Joshua with a smirk plastered on his face.

               Everyone else turned to see Joshua and he stabbed his food with his fork “It was nothing, really. Just friends,” he assured everyone.

               Jeffrey looked at Joshua with a raised eyebrow “I don’t believe you for a second, you guys look fonder of each other than friends,” Jeffrey said to Joshua and everyone agreed with a nod.

               Lucas smiled “Yeah, you took care of her when she was too tired to move, you stay beside her to protect her. You defend her in arguments, and you tend to speak about her with those sparkling eyes,” Lucas said to Joshua.

               Ace nodded “True,” he said with a smile. “There’s like this different look in your face, it’s almost completely happy but something’s missing,” he explained to Joshua “And that’s realization,” Ace added.

               Joshua shook his head “I don’t think so,” he said as he took a bite of his food.

               Lucas, Ace, Carl, Eiron, Nicholas, Jeffrey, Caden, and Brandon threw bread at Joshua and he got hit by lots of them. “That’s one piece of crap, work on your acting skills,” Jeffrey said to Joshua.

               Cialina stood up obviously angry “Guys, don’t waste the food!” she scolded the boys. And then a fried chicken came flying to her and she blocked her face with a plate.

               “Boo you!” Nicholas screamed standing up and he just threw the chicken.

               Cialina ran to Nicholas really fast and threw a cake at his face “You deserve it,” Cialina said.

               Nicholas tried to wipe the rest of the cake away from his face “You want a food fight, Cialina?” Nicholas asked with doubt caught in his voice.

               Cialina shook her head “Nope, you’re just too sweet even the cake got attracted to your face,” Cialina said walking back to her seat.

               “Excuse me, I’m just going to go and wash myself,” Nicholas said walking to his cabin.

               The camp fire in the middle exploded and they all ducked down and Ace just stood up. He walked to the fire and everyone else looked like they were shocked.

               Then with an instant the fire weakened and someone was standing on top of the flames, Hestia. She was a beautiful young lady in a Greek dress; she had long brown hair tied on a fishtail braid tied to the left. Her eyes were as beautiful as Eiron’s they were purple in color. Her eyes were framed by long eyelashes and she was stunning. “Demigods, there has been a problem. We have summoned other demigods in our power to help you wage the war,” Hestia said calmly to everyone.

               Eiron stood behind Ace “Mother, wage a war? Against whom?” he asked Hestia with a strong and proud tone in his voice.

               Hestia closed her eyes in peace and opened them once more “The rebels, they are planning to overthrow Olympus with Kronos behind them. Other demigods swore allegiance to the Titans, we summon upon you and the others to fight by our side,” Hestia explained her voice soft as silk and calm as the air. She spoke with such compassion and pride but she sounded at peace.

               Just in time the other demigods came running and surrounding the fire. And then Hestia, faded, like dust in the wind but she left one thing the smell of blood. She gave a warning and soon the danger will come, soon sacrifice will be made.