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The Curse of Pandora

Max Being a teenager is hard, and it gets a million times harder, when you’re being chased by zombies. This is where Max Blitz found himself, stuck between a rock and a hard place, actually, a rock and twenty vicious undead gladiators. “Okay guys listen, I’m sure we can work out our differences, I mean you’re dead; I’m alive; you want to kill me; I’m pretty sure I want to live.” One of the gladiators swung a bronze mace at Max, he ducked. “Okay I can see you really want me dead. Why? I don’t know, but I do know one thing, and that is, you can’t have me dead, because I like being alive, I absolutely hate all of you, and I’ve fought you guys before so, bring it.” One of the gladiators moaned and stumbled forward swinging his mace towards Max. Max ducked again, this time grabbing the mace as it passed over his head. With a jerk he pulled the mace out of the gladiator’s hands, “Ha, Now what Dead-boy?” Max swung the mace at the weaponless gladiator, crushing him entirely and turning him back into dust. “Hey, this is nice.” Max said admiring the mace. The gladiators were momentarily stunned, beginning to realize that their once easy prey might turn out to be an actual challenge. Max smiled, looked at the gladiators out the corner of his eye and said; “Okay, who’s next?” Two gladiators charged him; the first one stabbing his sword towards Max’s midsection, the second one swinging for his head. Max jumped out of the way of the first gladiators attack and smashed his sword, breaking it in half, brought his mace back up, and blocked the second gladiators strike. Max smiled. He was a way better swordsman than these undead slowpokes were. He remembered the first time this group of undead idiots tried to take him out. It had been 5 years ago, the day he had turned 13. The day his Mom died. No. Don’t think about the past, don’t go there, focus on the fight. He thought. Max spun his mace in a wide circle sending the gladiators sword and detached hand flying, Max brought the mace up over his head and smashed the gladiator just like the last two. The remaining gladiators charged him, probably thinking it would make a difference, but Max knew better and braced himself for the onslaught. Suddenly, just as the first zombie gladiator reached him, it vanished. All of the gladiators had vanished. Max was so surprised; it took him almost a full minute to notice that a giant hole had opened up in front of him, and the gladiators had fallen in. Max leaned over the edge and whistled. He couldn’t see the bottom of the hole. “Hello?” He shouted. “Hello, hello, hello…” The hole echoed back. Then suddenly a strange, dark, ancient, voice came out of the hole, “Children of Wisdom, Children of Death, Son of wind, Daughter of theft, six children, six stones, six sides of a box, Lest the universe be hexed they must find what was lost,” followed by a blast of warm air that knocked Max back on his butt. Max watched in amazement as the hole sealed itself up just like it had been before, regular, flat ground. The wind blew Max’s dark brown hair as he sat there, just staring at the ground in front of him, trying to figure out what had just happened. Go north. That same nagging sensation in the back of his head was back, every time he found a comfortable place or found something that distracted him it was there. Go north. It was the same nagging sensation that had driven him from his foster home in south Florida, but that didn’t matter anymore. “Alright, fine, whoever you are, whatever you are, fine, here I come. North it is.” Max turned around hiked up his backpack, picked up the mace that he had stolen from the gladiator, and started walking. North. Towards the last place he ever wanted to go, Canada. Honestly, he had nothing against Canadians or their fancy bacon, but it was the one place his Mom had told him never to go, and now it was the only place he could. Max thought back to the last day he saw his Mom the day the guy in the white suit had appeared. . . . “Max! Let’s Go! We’re going to be late again!” Max’s mom yelled up the staircase. Max was late for school and his mom wasn’t happy about it. “Coming, Mom!” Max yelled back a little fiercer than he had intended to. “Don’t you take attitude with me!” His mom yelled back. “I can just as easily stay home and make you do chores all day as drive you to school. Now come on!” Max huffed, grabbed his satchel pack (his own personalized backpack, that was one long strap that went over his shoulder and hung his backpack at his side) and headed down the stairs. Today was the best day of the year. The last day of school was really just one big party that the whole school participated in. With exams over, and summer about to start, everyone would be in a good mood, even the teachers. Max grinned when he got to the bottom of the stairs and saw the breakfast his Mom had made; it was his favorite one, Creamed eggs and toast, a delicious combination of sweet white gravy with sliced up boiled egg mixed into it all over two pieces of perfectly toasted toast. “Happy birthday Max.” His Mom smiled that smile that made Max feel like nothing else mattered except for the fact that his Mom cared for and loved him for who he was and that nothing would ever change that. “Thanks Mom.” Max said as she pulled him into a mom hug, today was Max’s 13th birthday. “This is awesome, I love having my birthday on the last day of the school year, and the whole party could be about me!” His mom laughed at that suggestion. “Yes Max, the entire school is going to celebrate you, dream big my son, dream big.” Max smiled and finished the last of his breakfast before putting his dishes in the sink. “Ready to go?” His mom asked. “Yep,” Max replied. “Well, okay, but before we go I have a present for you.” She smiled and took a small box out from behind the counter where she had been hiding it. “Well go on, Open it!” Max smiled and took the box and ripping the paper off. It was a small brown box with one ice-blue stripe running vertically all the way around. Max looked at his mom questionably and saw that the color had drained out of her face. “Open it.” She said forcing a smile. Max opened the box, inside was a small blue stone hung on what looked like a dog tag chain. “What is it Mom?” Max asked. “It was the only thing your father left you.” She said. “He told me not to give it to you until your 13th birthday. He said it would protect you from harm.” Max lifted the chain out of the box and looked at the stone; it looked like someone had frozen a blue stone and then somehow made it so it wouldn’t melt. “I like it.” Max said as he put it on. “At least now I know that dad wasn’t a complete jerk.” His mom smiled, “Okay let’s go, we’re really late now.” She grabbed the keys and headed to the car. Max looked around the house one last time before heading out the door, completely unaware that that was the last time he would see it. . . . “Happy birthday Max!” Max’s class yelled as his teacher brought out a large cake labeled “To the Class of 2014 and Max, have a good summer and a happy birthday” Max smiled and thanked his teacher as she cut the cake, school was almost over and it had been the best day ever, Max’s friends had given him a couple of gifts. His friend April, whom he had known the longest, had given him a very sisterly kiss on the cheek and a chocolate bar. With her long brown hair and deep forest-green eyes, she made his heart jump every time she came near. Next, his best friend Alex gave him a slug on the arm and an old leather wallet, which he had told Max was for all the cash he would get. Max smiled and laughed with April, as Alex told jokes and funny stories, nothing could possibly make this day go wrong. “See you Monday, dude?” Alex said jokingly as he high fived Max. “Ha! You wish.” Max said as he highfived him back. “You two are such losers.” April said as she put her arms over each of their shoulders. “Can you believe that this is our last day in middle school?” she asked with a smile. “I know what you mean. Middle school sucks. If I never see this place again it’ll be too soon.” Alex replied. “I agree.” Max said. “So are we gonna hang out at my place, or one of yours?” April asked. “Sorry guys, I can’t.” Max said. “My mom said that we were going to see a movie for my birthday.” “Awww man. Okay, well I guess we can talk later.” Alex said. “Yeah, I guess we’ll see you later.” April said with a smile. Max gave Alex another high five and April a hug before walking over to his mom’s car that had just pulled into the school parking lot. “So how was your last day?” Max’s mom asked as he climbed in the car. “It was awesome.” Max replied as he put on his seatbelt. “So what movie are we going to see?” Max’s mom asked. “Ummm, let’s go see that new one with the seven heroes.” Max said. His Mom smiled and drove out of the parking lot. “Sounds good to me, Birthday boy.” Max smiled and looked out the window at the cars passing by, when he noticed something weird in the side view mirrors. An old, rusty, black minivan was driving up quickly behind them. Usually Max wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but the weird thing was that this car looked like it shouldn’t even be in one piece, let alone be going over 70 miles per hour. “Mom?” Max said wearily. “I see them, hang on.” His mom said back as she put her blinker on, and moved over to the exit. The van was only a few cars away now and gaining fast. Max wasn’t sure how he knew that the van was coming for them, but he did. His mom had now pulled the car onto an old back street that ended in a dead end in front of an old house. “Mom, why are we turning here?” Max asked. “This is where we part Max.” His mom said, her auburn hair and dark brown eyes, only emphasized how pale she had become; something was scaring her pretty badly. “What do you mean, this is where we part? I thought we were going to see the movie.” “I know sweetie, and I would do anything to just spend this one last day with you, but I can’t, The Fates won’t allow it.” She said with a sad smile. The black van turned onto the back road and sped towards them. “Here take this.” she handed him a small picture of the two of them together, the one they had taken last Easter. She smiled seeing the picture again. It was her favorite one. “I love you Max.” She said with tears running down her face. “I love you to Mom, but...” All of this was happening to fast for Max to process; she pulled him into a hug, just as the black van slammed into the back of their car. Max woke up surrounded by flames, at first he couldn’t remember where he was, and then he looked around, he was completely surrounded by metal shrapnel and a few tires. Then it hit him all at once, Mom! “Mom!” He shouted. “Mom, where are you?!” Max yelled. “Over here.” An old scratchy voice replied. It was definitely not Max’s mom but it was the only thing he had to go by. Max ran toward the voice. “Over here.” It said again, this time right behind him. “Over here, young god-ling, come over here to die.” Max spun around only to come face to face with what looked like a zombie gladiator. “Aaaaaaaah!” Max screamed and tripped over his own feet, staring in horror at the evil creature. Its flesh was rotting away and hanging from some places, other places it just wasn’t there and the bone showed. “The Box must stay closed, lest the Hope be released.” It said in a voice that made Max’s skin crawl. “You must die.” The gladiator said as he swung his sword down on Max. “NO!” A strong, deep voice yelled as a huge gust of cold air swept through the crash site, blowing away the gladiators. Max looked around and saw that the grass, which just a second ago was on fire, was now covered in a thick layer of frost. A tall strong looking man with a beard in a white suit, with what seemed to be a purple cape stepped forward. “My son, you have a lot to learn.” “Who are you?” Max asked, staring in amazement at the man. “Go north son, go to Quebec, Canada. All your answers are there.” The man said. Max could see his breath with each word, which was weird because it was summer. “But, my Mom…” “She’s gone son. She’s with Hades now. He will care for her, or Hell will freeze over.” Max didn’t understand but just as he was about to ask the man pulled a backpack out of thin air and handed it to him. “This pack has everything you need to survive your journey, except a weapon.” He said, but before Max could ask what the man had meant, he vanished in a tornado of ice and snow. Max sat on the ground speechless until suddenly the chain stone his mom had given him grew extremely cold. He pulled it out and looked at it. The stone was glowing with a small arrow pointing up over an even smaller N. Max moved it back and forth, but the N and the arrow stayed pointing in the same direction. Max realized that it was acting like a compass. He put the stone back in his shirt, looked around, and started sobbing uncontrollably. He could hear police sirens in the distance. They faded in and out with the rest of the world until finally everything went black and he passed out. . . . Max frowned at the memories, as he pulled the hoodie he had… found, closer around him. Not so much to keep him warm as to keep out the rain. He had been completely happy and satisfied. He had friends, family, and a good home, but the police had taken everything and put him in foster care. No one had been right for him though, he had even tried to become part of a new family, but every time he got close to a family, the zombies attacked. They had been hunting him for 4 years now. Max had thought he had finally escaped them by running away and heading north, but apparently he had been mistaken. But none of that mattered now; all that mattered was getting to Quebec. It kept on raining and it didn’t look like it would stop anytime soon and there was an old abandoned building up ahead so Max decided to make camp there. The door was locked so Max climbed through the broken window. Max looked around the old building, it wasn’t that bad, for an abandoned building. Max pulled a sleeping bag out of his backpack and found an old couch and laid out on it. He was half asleep when he heard the door unlock and slam open as someone ran in breathing hard. The person slammed the door closed, still breathing hard. Max grabbed the mace he had stolen from the zombie gladiator and yelled, “Who’s there?” in a demanding voice. “Stop!” a small voice said, “I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, I didn't know anyone else was here.” Max let the mace fall to the ground while still holding the end, just in case this was a monster’s trick. “Come closer.” Max said. A small, skinny girl with blondish-brown hair and blue grey eyes, who could be no older than 15 or 16, stepped into the moonlight from a window. “Hi” she said “My name’s Ret.” Max was shocked for two reasons, one; she looked awful, her clothes were torn her hair mangled and her arms looked like they were bleeding, two; there was something different about her; she was like he was, different. Max didn’t know what to say to her “Um… Are you okay?” he mumbled. “No.” She said. “I need help and by the look of you, you can help me.” She limped forward favoring her right leg. Max dropped his mace and rushed over to support her. “What happened to you?” Max asked. The girl gave him a mischievous smile, which turned into a face of anguish as her hurt leg gave way. “You’ll see soon,” she said “They’re almost here and we need a plan.” Max was confused. “A plan?” he asked, “What kind of plan, and who’s almost here, what are you talking about?” Max led the girl over to the old couch he had been on and helped her sit down “The Leucrota pack is who’s almost here, and we need a plan to beat them.” Max had heard of Leucrota before, they were evil dog like creatures that could imitate voices to lure people to their untimely doom, but they were only legends his mom had told him about. “Wait a second,” Max said “You have a pack of Leucrota chasing after you? Like, actual Leucrota, the ones from Greek mythology?” “Yep” she said giving Max a look that told him, she was telling the truth, and by the look of her wounds, she was. “My alchemy belt is still recharging, I used it to throw them off my trail for a little while, but it never works for long, and they should find us in about ten minutes, give or take.” Max felt like he’d been hit by a train. Here he was heading to Canada, alone, and he had just found a semi-decent place to sleep for the night when this girl comes out of nowhere and asks him to help her escape from a pack of vicious ventriloquist dogs from ancient Greece. “If I hadn’t just been attacked by gladiator zombies, I wouldn’t have believed a word you just said.” The girl smiled at him. “Okay then.” She said, “Let’s get started.” Max pulled an extra shirt out of his backpack and tore it up to wrap Ret’s wounds. She was tough. She only whimpered a little bit after he cleaned the wounds with a bottle of water and tied the shirt around her arm and leg. As Max tied the torn shirt around her leg he noticed her ankle was turned at an awkward angle. “I think you’re ankle is broken.” He said. “I think you’re right. By the way, what’s your name?” she asked. “Max,” He said. “Max Blitz.” “Cool name.” she said, Max looked at her and she smiled. “Margret!” A woman’s voice called out from the darkness. “Margret help!” Ret grimaced, “That’s my Moms voice.” she said. “She’s dead.” That’s when Max heard it. “Max! Max hurry! They have us! We need Help!” It was a voice he thought he would never hear again, it was his Mom. “Mom?” Max stood up and rushed over to the door. “Max, No!” Ret yelled. “They’re not really there! It’s the leucrota!” Max stopped. He had forgotten about that, the Leucrota, the voice monsters. “But, it’s my Mom…” Max said. “No it’s not Max” Ret said. “But what if they have her, they never did find the body. What if they have your mom too?” Max said getting desperate, hearing his mom had driven all sense out of him; all memory of her death was gone. “Max listen to me, that is not your mom. I don’t know anything about your mom, but I do know that, that,” she pointed towards the window “is not your Mother.” Max knew she was right. His mom was dead. She was gone, and it was too much of a risk to check and see if he was wrong, because if he was, he was also dead. Ret checked an odd-looking belt around her waist, “Still at least 30 minutes till its recharged” she said. “What is that?” Max asked walking back toward her from the window. “It was a present from my dad,” she said, “He gave it to me before he sent me on this ridiculous journey to New York, I mean I go to camp every year, I don’t see why I had to walk this time. My belt’s been a lot of help in a couple of pinches that I’ve gotten myself into.” She smiled and looked away for a moment remembering something. “It’s magic.” She said looking back at Max. “What do you mean magic?” He asked. “Here, look,” she pulled out a small, empty glass vial “My belt holds three vials like this and,” She pulled a small bag off the other side “three bags like this. When it’s charged, each vial holds this clear chemical and I can mix the stones in here,” she held up the little bag “in with the chemical and I can make different things happen. I’m not very good yet, so I just have to hope for the best, I’ve set things on fire, grown roots over stuff, I even turned a monster into stone one time.” Max found all this very interesting, since all he had was a stolen mace. “Max!” His mom’s voice cried out again, this time a lot closer, “Margret, help me!” another voice cried. Max couldn’t stand it, “How many Leucrota are following you?” Max asked. “I think there are three or four left.” Ret said, “I got rid of the rest.” She smiled devilishly. Max didn’t want to know why. He went over to the window and looked out; he couldn’t see anything, except for a pair of glowing red eyes, staring right at him. Max ducked to the side of the window out of sight of the evil eyes. “Ret, they’re here.” He said swallowing a lump in his throat. He was used to fighting warriors, not beasts, these monsters fought in a completely different style. “Ok Ret, spill it. How do we get rid of these things before they kill us?” Max said walking back over to the old couch where Ret was tending to her leg. “Well, for starters they’re immune to metal of any kind, so you’re mace will be useless, and wood isn’t strong enough to hurt them unless it’s really, really, dense. So we really have no choice but to wait for my belt to recharge.” Ret said. “Ok then how long until it’s fully charged again?” Ret looked at a small hourglass on the buckle of her belt, “20 minutes.” She said. “Just enough time to die.” “Not on my watch.” Max said as he grabbed his mace and headed for the door. “Max, wait! Where do you think you’re going? They’re immune to metal, remember?” Ret asked as she tried to get up from the old couch. “Stop.” Max said: she sat back down. “They may be immune to metal, but not to crushing. I'm going to buy you twenty minutes, and it better be twenty minutes on the dot and by then you had better of come up with something or we’re both goners. I won’t be able to hold them for long.” Max opened the door Ret had unlocked and went out before she could say anything else. The leucrota were unlike anything Max had ever seen before. They looked like starving dogs with a beetle shell all over their body, and their faces were longer than an average dog’s with rows of sharp teeth inside and evil glowing red eyes. Max swallowed as the closest one started circling around him, Max copied its motion and started circling in the opposite direction with his mace in hand. The silence was unbearable, and Max had no idea what he would do if the beast attacked him. He knew that the creature could sense both his fear and his metal weapon, and knew that he couldn’t hurt it. Max circled with the monster, knowing full well that if he didn’t do something fast he was done for. “Come on Max, Think!” he thought “They have to have some kind of weakness that I can use against them.” But it was too late, the leucrota Max was circling with lunged at him, Max caught its jaws on the wooden handle of the mace and threw it off. Two more lunged at him from behind; he caught them with a back swipe, which threw them off only enough to barely miss him. Max rolled under the fourth leucrota’s tackle and brought the handle of his mace into its stomach. The beast yelped and landed on its side, not moving. “Ret, How much more time!” Max yelled through the window. “Fifteen more minutes,” She answered. “And I have a plan!” “Good!” Max yelled as he caught another bite attack on his handle. The leucrota pushed him up against the building with the handle still in its mouth. Then with a big snap it crushed the handle in between it jaws and head-butted Max in the stomach. Max let out a big “Oompf!” as he dropped to the ground clutching his stomach, the leucrota’s shells were as hard as titanium. Max tried to get up, but he was knocked on his back by another head-but from the leucrota. All the air had been knocked out of him and things had started to look blurry, but he tried to get up again. This time the leucrota bit into his arm, and another bit at his shoulder, Max cried out in pain as another bit into his calf. He tried to shrug them off and get up, but as he had just gotten one leg under him, the fourth leucrota tackled him, pushing him down on his back. The other leucrota let go as what appeared to be their leader held Max down with its front paws. “So you thought you could beat us didn’t you Max?” The leucrota said in his Mom’s voice. “You thought you could beat us with wood and metal? You poor deluded fool; we are leucrota, the unstoppable hunters of ancient Greece. You are no match for us.” “Wanna bet?” Ret yelled from the door. She yelled something in Greek and threw a bottle on the ground in front of her. The bottle shattered in a flash of green smoke and roots started sprouting from the ground from where the bottle had broken. “Get them.” Ret said in Greek. Max had no idea how he understood her or how he knew what she was speaking but he did, and he didn’t argue. The roots extended towards the leucrota on top of Max first, completely enveloping the beast. Within seconds Max was staring at the exact likeliness of a leucrota, only completely made of wood. The roots condensed themselves and went after the other three leucrota who ended up the same as the first one, and after each leucrota had been turned into wood the roots shrunk back into the ground next to Ret. Ret limped over to Max and helped him to his feet, “Are you okay?” she asked. “I only saw the last part of the fight,” she said “the combination of that potion is really hard to remember, and so is the enchantment.” Max smiled “You,” he took a deep breath, “You got here just in time.” And he blacked out. “Max.” Max rolled over onto his stomach and pulled his pillow closer to his head. “Max! Max, wake up!” someone yelled. Max jumped up and missed the edge of his bed falling flat on his face, with a thud. “Ow.” He mumbled under his breath. He sat up rubbing the back of his neck “Where am I?” he said apparently to no one, as he looked around to discover the room was empty. “Wait a minute…” “Ahhhhh!” Max screamed as he clawed his way back on the bed. “Where am I? Where’s Ret? Leucrota Injured, Leg, Shoulder!!” “Max!” A firm voice snapped him out of his panic attack. “Max over here.” Max looked around his room again and noticed the rainbow glowing in front of what looked like a park fountain. The weird part was that in the glowing fountain was Ret’s glowing face. “Ret?” Max asked walking slowly towards the rainbow. “Yep,” she said with a big smile “Glad to see you’re finally up, come on outside.” The rainbow shimmered and vanished. Max sat there for a minute before he got up, put on an orange t-shirt and clean jeans he found on a chair against the wall, and headed towards the door, and what waited for him outside was unlike anything he had ever imagined. Max opened the door of the cabin he had been in and stepped out. What he saw shocked him so much he nearly fell over. What was standing at his door was a half man, half goat, person! “Gah! What are you? Who are you? Where did you come from?” The half goat man walked in and sat on Max’s bed, pulled out a styrofoam plate and nonchalantly began chewing on it, after he finished his first bite he said, “Th’ name’s Green. I’m a Satyr, I came from outside, your friend sent me ta check on ya.” “Yeah,” Max said,still a little dazed, “Her head was just here.” “Her head?” Green asked. “What do ya mean her, oh, Ha! She Iris Messaged ya.” “Iris messaged?” Now Max was really confused. “Yeah she Iris messaged ya, I guess She got ‘em workin’ again, anyways come on kid, come meet the rest of yer’ family.” . . . Aleksandra It’s too quiet, Alek thought to herself. She waited for something to jump out and scare her. Something was wrong. She knew it. Right about then, the hallway would normally have been filled with the people that terrorized her in it, but they weren’t there. That wasn’t normal. She slowly walked to her locker and looked around. Still no one was there. She opened her locker and got a spider in her face. She dropped her books and started screaming and flapping her arms around her face to smack it away. She felt the spider drop to the ground and looked at it. It was a fake. I knew it. Suddenly Alek heard laughter behind her. She turned around to find James, Kayla, Mike, Brittany, and Kristy laughing at her fear. She sighed and picked up her books from the floor. Before she could stand something knocked the books out of her hands. She looks up to see Kristy standing over her with an evil glare in her eyes. “What do you want Kristy?” “Same as usual freak,” she replied, her voice dripping with venom. “You gone.” “And you also know that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. So get over it.” Alek went back to her books but something pulled her up and shoved her against the lockers. Of course it was Kristy. Alek heard someone gasp. She looked over and saw Kayla’s expression. She actually looked worried for her. It still didn’t change what she did. “You’re going to regret that,” Kristy said to Alek, a glint of genuine hate in her eyes. “Don’t hurt her,” Alek heard Kayla whisper. “Stay out of this newbie!” Kristy barked at Kayla. Kristy looked back at Alek. “What did I do to make you hate me so much?” Alek asked her softly. Kristy stared at Alek like a lion would stare at it’s prey before pouncing. She opened her mouth to speak and thats when Alek noticed the second row of teeth in Kristy’s mouth. Alek screamed and pulled away from Kristy. Alek tripped over her dropped books and then turned around and watched in horror as Kristy’s skin started to melt off her body. Four more eyes appeared on Kristy’s face and the original two that were there turned black as night. Her human arms elongated and transformed into black legs with thousands of tiny hairs covering both of them. Six more of those arms pushed their way out of Kristy’s body. The bottom half of Kristy’s body transformed into what appeared to be the abdomen of either an ant or a spider. Alek dearly hoped that it was an ant. Sadly, she was very wrong. Finally Kristy’s head took to a rounder shape and also turned black as night. What Alek saw in front of her now was a very large and very menacing spider. “Now I’ll make sure you’re gone, freak,” the spider (Kristy?) said. It then looked at Alek, as if knowing she was there and it had just found lunch. She had just became literal prey. Alek looked back to where the others were standing and saw no one. They had run. Maybe she should do the same thing. Alek turned around to start running away but instead saw a black carpet of spiders blocking her exit. She turned back around only to find the large spider (Kristy… whatever that thing was) standing in front of her, staring at Alek with it’s intense black eyes. Of all the things to die from and it would be spiders. Her biggest fear. How wonderful. Suddenly there was a loud screeching sound, as if coming from an animal. Alek looked up to see a red owl with its wings stretched out as if it had just found it’s prey. Alek looked back at the spider and it seemed as if it had a scared look on it’s face. She took this opportunity to run. Even though it meant running through a pack of vicious-looking spiders, she’d be willing to take that chance. She turned around and started running through the black carpet of spiders. Disgusting as it was, it was her only way out. Hey, this might even help her get rid of her fear of spiders. Probably not, but hey, it’s worth a shot. Soon Alek found herself at the front of the school. She took a chance to see if the rather large spider had chased her and then realized that was a huge mistake. The large black spider had figured out that Alek had run and was now chasing her. Not good. Alek bolted out the doors and started running, completely forgetting her car. She ran toward home. Or what is supposed to be home. In a matter of minutes Alek found herself at her apartment building. She turned around again and couldn’t find the spider anywhere. She almost considered herself lucky. But not that lucky. It would be back. For some reason Alek clutched at the necklace her biological father gave her when she was a little girl. A green stone that was ice cold. How had she ended up in this place? No, she told herself. Don’t do that to yourself Alek. You know what will happen. She walked inside and ran up the stairs to her apartment on the top floor. She paused before opening the door. He’d be waiting for her. Alek knew that she had to go in but something was holding her back. She couldn’t place it. Go inside, a voice said aloud. Alek turned around, expecting to find the person who said that but no one was there. There was no one in the hall. Alek opened the door and walked inside. “Hello?” she yelled. “Anyone home?” No answer. Wow. That’s awesome. She had some time to herself to think about what had just happened. Alek slowly walked to her bedroom door in case her adoptive father was waiting for her but nothing happened. She paused at her bedroom door. She hadn’t even meant to go to her bedroom. Something had been pushing her there. Alek opened the door and found something that she never expected to see. A tall woman was standing in front of her bookshelf reading Gone with the Wind. “I’ve been expecting you,” she said to Alek without looking up. The woman’s voice was mysterious and somewhat familiar. Alek couldn’t place it but she knew that there was something familiar about the woman standing in front of her. Alek honestly hadn’t expected the woman to say anything. “What do you mean?” The woman closed the book and placed it back on the shelf before looking at Alek. There was only one thing about this woman that startled Alek. The woman’s grey eyes. They were the same as Alek’s. “Who are you?” Alek said, hoping that it sounded as if she wasn’t completely terrified. “You will know who I am soon enough if you don’t already know,” the woman said calmly. “You must do something.” “No,” Alek said to her. This woman was not getting away that easily without some answers. “No, that is not what I meant. What I meant was that you must leave this place and never come back.” All Alek could do was stare at the woman. “He’ll find me. He always does.” “This time he won’t. He won’t be able to hurt you anymore if you leave now. Go to New York. Long Island.” “Why? What is there that is so important?” Alek walked over to the woman slowly. “A place that will keep you safe.” “Who are you really?” Alek said carefully. The woman hesitated a moment before speaking again. “A friend. I’m a friend. That’s the only thing you need to know at the moment. I can sense great things to come. You will do fine my dear.” “Where do I go again?” Alek asked hesitantly. “Long Island, New York. You will find all the answers that you seek there.” “How will I get there?” Alek asked the woman. “You will find the way.” The woman stared at Alek with those intense grey eyes. “Pack anything that you might need.” “Why do I need to go to Long Island?” Alek asked the woman again. Alek knew the answer already, she just didn’t know if she completely believed it yet. “All the answers that you seek will be there. Trust me, you will understand.” The woman looked outside the window for a moment before she spoke again. “I must leave now and so must you. Goodbye and it was lovely meeting you.” The woman smiled at Alek before walking out on to the fire escape and walked down the stairs to the sidewalk. Alek walked back inside and shut the window. What did the woman mean she needed to leave? Alek had thought about leaving before but every time she tried, she would always come back. But this time was different. This time it felt like she’d actually stay gone. Alek looked over at her bed and noticed a box lying there with her name on it. She walked over to it and hesitated before opening it. She opened the box and what was inside was almost surprising. Almost. A medieval dagger that was about eight inches long with a sleek black hilt was inside with the sheath covering the blade. It looked familiar. Her biological father may have shown it to her once before. She couldn’t remember. Alek picked up the dagger and looked at it before taking the sheath off. She uncovered the eight-inch metal blade and the first thing that she noticed about it was the small owl engraved into the blade. “No way,” she muttered. It couldn’t be possible. The first thing that her mind had thought of when she saw the little owl on the blade was the Greek goddess Athena. The owl is the goddess’s symbol. There was no possible way that Alek had just met Athena. Or was it possible? She had been attacked by a giant spider earlier so right about now anything was possible. Alek put the dagger back in it’s sheath and placed it on her bed. She walked over to her closet and found her small backpack that she used for hiking. She put a change of clothes inside and about three hundred dollars she had hidden away. Alek pulled some books off of the bookshelf and stuffed them in her bag. A three volume set of Greek mythology. Well, she might as well study up on this. She looked back at the dagger still lying on her bed. She walked over to her bed and picked up the dagger. “Might as well,” Alek said to no one in particular. Alek hooked the dagger to her belt and walked over to her door. She looked back at her bedroom, knowing that she wouldn’t be coming back. She walked out into the hallway and instantly saw someone she didn’t want to see: her adoptive father. Great, she thought to herself. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked her viciously. “Away,” she said bluntly as she walked past him toward the front door. Before she could reach the door, he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. “I don’t think so.” “Let go of me,” she said, attempting to pull her arm out of his grasp. “You aren’t leaving,” he barked at her. “Yes I am!” Alek yelled at him, finally pulling her arm free. She turned around again to leave but he only grabbed her again. “Where will you go? You have no place but here. You’ll come back.” He started laughing at her misfortune. Boy, was he wrong. “I said let go!” Alek grabbed the dagger with her right hand and smacked him with the broad side of the blade. He let go of her and clutched at his arm as if he had been hurt. “You burned me!” he yelled at her. “What are you talking about?” she said wearily. She was ready to leave. He looked at his arm and Alek saw what he was talking about. The owl on her dagger was now burned into his skin. He looked at Alek again, this time with vengeance in his eyes. “You’re going to pay for that,” he yelled at her. Alek took a step back and found herself pinned against the door. He raised his hand and hit Alek on her face so hard that she fell to the floor. “A weakling is what you are,” he said to her. “You don’t know how or when to fight back. You’re a coward.” Alek looked at her dagger and found that the owl was glowing. Maybe that’s why it burned him. Interesting. Alek stood up and looked at her adoptive father with determination. “You don’t know anything about me!” she yelled at him, smacking him with the dagger once more. This time it knocked him to the floor. Alek took this as an opportunity to leave. She turned around, opened the door, and bolted down the hallway. She ran down the stairs and found herself outside. The cool November air sent chills down her spine. Alek looked around to see if the huge evil spider was still around and found nothing. Since she had no idea where to go, Alek decided to find a jacket before doing anything else. She knew how cold it could get in Salt Lake City in November and she was not going to take any chances. It didn’t take that long to get a jacket, but she figured that since she now had a dagger in her possession, she might want to hurry. Alek ran into the first store she saw and grabbed a black jacket off one of the racks and tried it on. Good thing too because it fit Alek’s slender frame perfectly. She ran to the counter and bought it as quickly as the cashier was going. The cashier must have seen the weapon because as soon as she gave Alek the jacket back, the young woman turned around to find the phone. Wonderful. Alek put the jacket on and ran outside to find that it is nearly dark out. Pretty soon she wouldn’t be able to see just a simple few feet in front of her. Again, wonderful. Alek started running toward the city limits. When Alek was about halfway there, she heard a low rumbling. Almost like something was growling. She stopped and listened. The rumbling stopped but she wasn’t trusting that. Alek turned around slowly to see that she was face to face with her dear and delightful friend Spidy again. Alek tried to run but the spider turned around and hit Alek with it’s abdomen, knocking Alek onto her face. Alek heard screaming all around her. She looked up to see everyone running away. Thanks guys for coming to help me, Alek thought to herself. I really appreciate it. The spider had a look in it’s eye, as if it trying to decide how it would eat her. Grilled or fried? Alek wasn’t planning on finding out. She grabbed her dagger and stabbed the spider in one of it’s eyes. The spider shrieked and roared loudly in her ear. Alek stood up and took a few steps back from it and watched as an owl appeared above the spider right before it exploded into gold dust. Alek walked over to the golden spider dust and picked up her dagger and placed it back in it’s sheath. Suddenly Alek was so dizzy that she nearly fell over. She had to get out of there. She had to leave now. Alek turned and ran as best as she could while being dizzy. She figured the dizziness was coming from her being hit with the abdomen of a large spider that once was. It had probably been about two hours since Alek had sliced the large spider into gold dust. Alek stopped and looked at her watch. It was about eight o’clock. She was already surrounded by darkness. She looked up and could barely see the city limits sign. She was almost there. She was about to leave Salt Lake City forever. Again Alek got that dizzy feeling. It washed over her entire body, making everything feel weak. She started to make her way to the sign but being dizzy doesn’t really help that much. Alek stumbled her way to the sign. She was just about to pass the sign when she fell and hit her head on the ground. She groaned loudly. She tried to get back up but couldn’t. Suddenly she could hear footsteps. Alek tried to look but that hurt so she just stayed where she was. She soon saw someone standing over her. She could tell that this person was male. He bent down and looked at her carefully. From what she could tell, his hair was black and his eyes were blue. That was all she could determine before her vision started to go blurry. She groaned again and for some reason she told this person her name. “Alek.” “So that’s your name,” the person said to her. His voice was earthy and sounded kind. Alek barely managed to say, “What’s your name?” He looked at her and said, “My name is Victor Collins.” She then sank into darkness, not knowing if she would ever wake up. . . . She could feel herself waking up. She just didn’t want to. The darkness was an escape from the pain she was in. She didn’t want to let that come flooding back on her. She could hear some kind of noise. It sounded familiar to her but she just couldn’t place what the sound was. Alek slowly opened her eyes and found that she was in some sort of infirmary she didn’t recognize. She looked to her left and found a teenage boy sleeping against the wall, snoring lightly. Victor. That was the boy who talked to her before she passed out! He saved my life, Alek thought. Alek was attempting to sit up when her arm gave way. Alek cried out in pain as she fell back down against the bed. Victor choked on a snore and woke up with a start. He immediately looked over at Alek and rushed to her side. He gripped her shoulders gently. “Are you okay?” he asked, the worry evident in his voice. Alek looked up suddenly. She hadn’t been expecting him to rush over to her. “Yeah, I think so.” Victor sighed in relief and helped Alek sit up. He stepped away from the bed and looked at her. “Why are you being so nice to me?” Alek said quietly, not looking up to meet Victor’s eyes. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked her. He was thoroughly confused. “You don’t even know me,” she said, looking up this time. “Why would you be nice to someone you don’t even know?” Victor ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Honestly, he didn’t know why he helped Alek. “Well?” Alek said more forcefully. Victor looked at her calmly. “I honestly don’t know why I helped you.” “Yet you still did?” “Dad says it’s safe here,” Victor said as he sat down on the bed. “Wait what? I’m really confused now. What do you mean your dad says that it’s safe here? How would your dad know that wherever the heck we are is safe!” Victor was startled by Alek’s sudden outburst. He wasn’t expecting it, especially from someone with a personality like Alek’s. Then he realized what she wasn’t understanding. “You don’t know do you?” “Know what?” Alek asked, frustrated as ever. Honestly, ever since the spider incident, she had been completely confused and now this Victor person saves her for no reason and brings her to who knows where and theres a goat lady in the corner. Alek stopped. There was a goat lady in the corner. Alek slowly turned her head to the other wall in front of the bed, the same wall that had a half goat lady leaning up against it. Alek screamed pushing herself back against the headboard of the bed. “What the heck is that thing!” she screamed. Victor grabbed her, “Wait! Wait! It’s okay, it’s okay she’s our friend.” He said trying to calm her down. “I don’t care if she’s a friend what is she?” Alek asked, slightly more composed. “I’m a satyr” the goat lady said, “Victor, are you sure that this one, really is one?” “Yes. I’m positive actually. She’s been claimed. I can feel her mothers aura. She definitely belongs here Flora.” Alek looked back at the goat lady and realized that she was actually quite beautiful for being half goat. The goat lady, Flora, had long wavy brown hair that had small tulips in it every now and then, she was about five feet tall and she wore an orange t-shirt, with no pants, instead she had goat legs. “Wow,” Alek said, “ You’re beautiful.” Flora was taken aback. “Well, um, thank you. Come on sweetie, lets get you cleaned up before you meet the rest of your family. Victor you may go. I will take care of her from here” Alek looked at Victor and noticed the look he was giving her. He doesn’t want to leave? I’ll ask him about that later. Alek met Victor’s eyes. “I’ll be fine Victor. Go on. I’ll see you later?” To Alek, it seemed as if Victor had relaxed a little. He smiled. “See you later,” he said as he walked out of the infirmary. Alek turned to look at Flora. “What did you mean when you said the rest of my family? What are you talking about?” Alek asked, but Flora wouldn’t say anything until she had Alek in new bandages and had put her through a hot bath. . . . Alek threw her towel on the bed and pulled on the orange t-shirt and blue jeans that Flora had left her. It had taken forever to convince the satyr to leave her, and she had only left after Alek had promised her several different time that she wouldn’t do anything too strenuous. Alek was extremely reluctant about going outside to meet Flora. Alek was so completely confused by everything that had been going on lately. She still needed to get to Long Island. Maybe Flora would know how to get there. Alek reached the door and paused. Flora said something about meeting the rest of my family, Alek thought to herself. What does she mean ‘the rest of my family’? I don’t have any family left. I have no one. There was only one way to find out. Alek turned the doorknob and walked outside into the November air. What Alek saw in front of her was unlike anything she had been expecting. The first thing that she saw was the bright, sparkling lake staring back at her. She saw a couple of canoes out on the lake. Alek looked to her left and saw an immense green forest with kids of all ages coming and going from it. What kind of place is this? she thought to herself. Where am I? Alek started walking, not really knowing where she was going. One, because she had no idea where she was and two, because everything was just so beautiful she couldn’t help but look at everything she came across. Alek found herself walking toward the docks on the lake. Alek then looked to her right and saw that there was a large field filled with strawberry plants. What? she thought to herself. Why would this place have a strawberry field? As she was walking, Alek saw Victor talking to Flora. She tried to get his attention but he wasn't looking in her direction. He's too far away to see me. I'll run over. Alek started running toward Victor and Flora. Her being extremely clumsy, Alek stumbled a couple of times on the way. Alek was about to call out Victor's name when she literally ran into someone and fell flat on her back. "Ow," Alek groaned loudly. “Hey there!” someone said as they pulled Alek by her arms. “You should be more careful, at that speed you might hurt yourself.” "I kind of already did," Alek said a little more hatefully than she intended. She realized what she said then. "Sorry. I'm just not used to being here. In fact I don't even know where the heck I am." “Join the club. A friend of mine brought me here and I was trying to find her. Where were you running to anyways?" "The only friend that I have here. His name is Victor. He's right over there," Alek said, pointing at Victor, who had finally realized that she was outside and was walking toward her and this person she was talking to, Flora right behind him. “He looks dangerous.” the guy said. “Almost like one of the villains from one of those animes I used to watch. You know the villain that you don’t know is a villain until its too late?” "Well that villain saved my life so he's my friend. So I would kindly advise you not to talk about him like that," Alek said forcefully. She honestly didn't know where that came from. She hadn't known Victor very long so why was she defending him? She could see what the person in front of her meant. The way that Victor walked, his height, everything about him have off that persona of possibly being evil. But if he was truly evil why would he have saved her? “Look,” the guy said “All I’m sayin is that this whole place is weird but, there is something about that guy that just reeks of death. I usually am a pretty good judge of character, but I will take your word for it.” "What's going on here?" Victor said, finally coming up behind Alek. The way that Victor was staring at the person in front of her was a little intimidating. "I accidentally ran into him and he helped me up," Alek said, stepping between the both of them in case something happened. “No harm done, my friend.” the guy said with a smile “The young lady just happened to be falling for me in a new way.” Victor looked like he was about to flatten the guy. Alek was pretty sure she wanted too as well. “Who exactly do you think you are?” she practically yelled at him. “My name is Max Blitz. Who else would I be?” "What kind of name is 'Blitz'?" Victor asked, a smirk on his face. "Victor..." Alek said, warning him to shut up. “It’s the name my Mom took for me to have my own last name, since my Dad left.” Max said with a straight face. “Is there a problem? Suit-boy?” "Suit-boy? Really? Is that the best insult you could think of?" Victor laughed loudly pulling an old timey pistol out of the back part of his suit and pointing it at Max’s face. “Wanna try again?” Victor asked. "STOP IT!!" Alek yelled loudly, so loudly in fact that several people stopped what they were doing and stared at them. "Get over yourselves! I would personally love to know where the heck I am!!" Both boys looked at Alek with a strange, almost scared, look on their face, like they weren't expecting that to come from someone with a personality such as Alek's. Anyone could easily tell that Alek was an extremely shy and extremely quiet person so it was odd for her to have an outburst such as that. "She's right," a deep voice said from behind Max. All three of them turned around to find a half-man, half-horse standing behind Max with a serious look on his face. Alek backed up, being scared, and bumped into Victor. "No reason to be scared, daughter of Athena. All will be explained soon enough. “You’re a centaur.” Max said. “Wait, daughter of Athena?” Alek asked. “I’m completely confused right now. Where are we?” “You’re a centaur.” Max said again. “Centaur’s aren’t real. They’re myths, you can’t be real.” “I’m standing in front of you aren’t I?” the centaur asked with a smirk on his face. “But Centaur’s were myths created by the Greeks. You can’t be real.” “Hm, I can’t tell who your godly parent is.” The Centuar said. “Godly parent? What the heck are you talking about?” Max shouted, drawing unwanted attention to himself and the others around him. “Max will you just calm down?” Alek asked calmly. “Why should I?” Max turned around quickly to face Alek. “You were yelling at us just a second ago! What happened to that person? Huh!” Max yelled at Alek. Victor stepped in front of Alek. “Don’t yell at her okay! She didn’t do anything to you, so just calm down already?” Alek felt someone’s hand grasp her own and she found that Flora had come to stand beside her. Flora had a sweet smile on her face and that calmed Alek’s nerves a little bit. Alek was terrified of this Max kid honestly. She didn’t know what he was capable of and she honestly didn’t want to find out. “Please just stop yelling already,” Alek said meekly from behind Victor, barely audible. “No!” Max yelled. “I want to know what is going on NOW!” As Max yelled a huge cold wind pushed Alek, Victor, and Flora, to the now frost covered ground. After the cold wind had passed, Alek looked up and saw something totally unbelievable. “What is that?!” she asked, pointing above Max’s head. Max looked up and saw a bright blue snowflake hologram going around in circles right above his head. The snowflake quickly faded. Max turned toward the centaur. “What was that?” “That my boy, was a Claiming,” the centaur spoke calmly. “That’s strange. I wasn’t aware that he had any demigod children. Even stranger since He supports Gaea now, and stranger still that He could focus enough to claim you.” “Demigod?!” Max yelled. “You mean half-god and half-human? That isn’t possible!” “Oh it’s very possible, son of Boreas.” “Wait The Boreas? You mean the god of the North Wind?” Alek asked as Victor was helping her up. “Precisely. Come. It’s time that you all got acquainted with where you are.” The centaur started walking toward the strawberry fields. “Where are we? The name of the place?” Alek said quietly. “You, my dear, are in Camp Half-Blood,” the centaur spoke calmly. . . . Rollo Rollo shivered, I hate the cold, he thought, zipping up his favorite green jacket. There was something about New York cold that cut through any jacket. He shivered again. Well, I guess I should start out, its only gonna get colder. And with that thought Rollo took off running. It must’ve been part of his native African. He had always been good at running, he was the fastest person on the track team at his school, with an almost inhuman track time, nothing made him feel better than to go for a run. Even in the freezing cold of a New York winter he still ran, and he always ran the exact same route, but something was different about today, not only was it colder than usual, but as he ran Rollo noticed that there was an unusually low number of people outside. That's weird, he thought as he passed a large group of men with large scarves wrapped around most of their upper bodies. Hey, that's really strange but its New York, y'know. He kept running. Rollo turned his next corner to start his way back when he saw the men again. At least, they looked like the same men. But that wasn't possible. Rollo ran past them, and turned his emergency corner, that he had established in-case someone tried to follow him home. Paranoia. The alley had three exits, two of which ended up dead-ends two miles into them and only one actually went to another street, which Rollo could follow back home. Two rights six paces, one left, one right, two lefts, eighteen paces then right at the fifth traffic light, into Central Park, around the gazebo, beneath the stone bridge and straight on till morning. I’ll have them lost before the third right, and hopefully I’ll be back before morning in this weather, he thought, as he ran around his first right. No problem, Second right, They’ll never catch me now. Rollo turned the first left only to be stopped by ten men all wearing giant scarfs. Rollo panicked and backtracked throwing gravel up with his running shoes. As he turned the previous corner, he was stopped again by five more scarf wearing men, “Curses. Look guys, I don’t have any money on me, and I don’t have anything valuable on either. Well, my boxers are some shnazzy expensive CK's, but you don't need to know that. I was just out going for a run, and I don’t want to join any club either, so if you could be so kind as to move aside.” Rollo said stepping to the side just a little, three of the men stepped in the same direction. “Me man’t moo mat, mon muf Mameana.” “I’m sorry, What was that again?” Rollo asked. “My Med, Me man’t moo mat, mon muf Mameana.” “Um, maybe if you, undid your scarfs I could,” Rollo started to say but he was cut off by the collective gasp of all the men. “Meese mar Mot marfs, Mameniman.” said the tall man in front, sounding almost offended. “Okay, still can’t understand you?” Rollo. The tall man undid his “scarf” letting it hang down. “Woah. Okay not scarfs. That's just wrong.” Rollo said. “No,” the tall man said, “As you can see these are not scarfs but, the pride of the Panotii people, our ears. I am Dumbuni, leader of the Paotti people.” “Alright then, Dumbo, what do you want with me?” Rollo thought, This oughta be good. The one called Dumbuni replied, “Your life must not continue! Our efforts shall not be in vain!” Rollo’s eyes bugged out a little.”Slow your role, greedy troll. Look, Dumb Bunny, we just met and your welcoming abilities are kind of shabby. So I’ll be making my way out of here. Kinda busy today…” The man made a weird guttural and gluttonous cry and jumped at Rollo, spinning himself like a top in the air. A pinwheel on its side. "Woah!" Rollo exclaimed trying to jump out of his way but one of Dumbuni's ears caught his jacket, slicing through it. “Dang! I love this one!” He said, holding the frayed edges. “My deepest apologies.” Came Dumbuni again. “Next time, I shall not miss!” “If your ears are that crusty, I know a couple of doctors that-” The razor ears came again, faster and more precise that time. “Dude! Watch it!” While the momentum of the ears kept Dumbuni busy periodically, Rollo took the time to survey the arena. Sixteen combatants, one being me. Alley is four yards wide, give or take, and close to eleven high. Five foot high garbage container to the group of ten’s left. Various debri on the ground. A rusty crowbar and four feet of one inch PVC pipe. Part of a croissant. The crowbar could give them tetanus and the pipe would be better for swift close range. Possible escapes? Use speed to tuck and roll. Snag the croissant. Potentially use head butts. Or vault from the trash can off the wall, expecting freaks to follow behind. Using their heads as boosters, could be propelled to the next wall. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Until high enough to grasp the ledge. Falling from too high could result in major trauma to lower appendages. Consensus? Keep to the ground. All of the weird ears charged at Rollo then, from both directions. With little room to escape, he dashed over and snatched up the rusty crowbar- hooked end away- in his right hand and the PVC pipe in his left. With their method of attack, close range combat is safest. They can’t all be rotor blading near each other. Positive thinking. Mind over matter. Be smarter. Rollo ducked quickly under spinning ears and swung the crowbar and pipe together at the head of one of his assailants and the Panotii man collapsed. But two of his comrades quickly replaced him. They moved swiftly and gracefully, their ears flying through the air but never colliding with each other. They were fast, but Rollo was even faster. Flipping and cartwheeling in between them, dodging almost every attack, Rollo struck down two of the Panotti with his crowbar, another one caught his arm, throwing him against the wall and dislocating his shoulder blade. The pain seared his thinking. “What do you guys even want?!” Rollo yelled as he held his now limp arm. “Other than my charming personality and great looks, I’m a nobody!” He ducked under another crusty ear buzzsaw. “You can’t fool us Athenian! No normal human could avoid us for this long in a fight!” Dumbuni screamed as he went into another pirouette of death spinning towards Rollo. Rollo jumped to the side as Dumbuni spun toward him and directly into the wall, Rollo looked back in horror as Dumbuni stood up and shook off dust from the now shattered wall. “What do you mean 'Athenian'?” Dumbuni stopped, “ Do you really not know who you are child?” All of the Panotti stopped and looked at Rollo. One of them spoke “Be careful Dumbuni, it might be one of their tricks.” “Again, I ask, What do you mean Athenian?” Rollo asked as he slowly stood up still holding his injured arm. This dislocated shoulder will be the death of me. He thought. Better keep him talking for a little while, while I try and think of something. "Are you so naïve to think that we would fall for tomfoolery such as this.” “I honestly don't know what's going through your head right now. You're a scrub and I don't have time for your "tomfoolery."" He seemed irritated at that. "How dare you talk to me in that fashion! Such impudence! You have proven yourself guilty of being a true son of Athena; for only her spawn spout such obscenities! For that, you will pay a heavy price." "Hey, I'm on a tight food budget. I can't spare any money right now so…” Rollo thought for a moment. “I could take out a loan.” Dumbuni was irritated beyond belief. “YOU FOOL! I meant your life! I will be doing the worlds a favor by terminating you!” Dumbuni charged at him quickly and with careful planning and reflex, Rollo swung his dislocated shoulder forward so that his palm was there to collide with Dumbuni in the chest. The impact knocked Rollo back several feet, over the Panotti people behind him, and at the same time, sent his shoulder back into place with a loud POP! and Rollo cried out momentarily. “Thanks but no thanks, buddy. I’ll take my leave now.” With his escape made perfect, Rollo got up and ran off into the streets. Before the point where he was attacked, he was briskly jogging. Now that he had defined his assailants, a full on sprint was commenced. Screw the escape plan. They were one step ahead of me right then. But now the upper hand belongs to me. Rollo ducked and weave through people and traffic, rushing into Central Park. While the space was open and easy to see people running across, it also gave him room to pick up more speed. The landscape rushed past him as he sped across it, blurring his vision.All of a sudden, Rollo expected to have peaked at his top speed, but he kept building more and more speed, taking eleven foot strides with every step! Those eager-for-blood-big-eared-freaks were long long gone. And then, Rollo was back in the hustle and bustle of New York City at night. There was no plausible way that he had crossed Central Park that fast. But surviving was more important now, as he hurtled cars and weaved between even more people than before. If I go north, I’ll hit water, but maybe that’s to my advantage. What with the swim team’s second fastest time, surely the currents will be no match. Or at least, a less painful death than being sliced to ribbons by crust covered ears… Rollo kept running, without exhaustion. Most of the people he ran into and around responded appropriately: with a curse on jim and his family. Taxis screeched to a halt when he flashed into their vision, but Rollo had really become like the breeze. He moved with a speed that was so intense, people only thought they saw him. Track is gonna be a cinch this year. He looked behind himself to see if the Bigotti or Panotti or whatever were still behind him. He yelled out, “I swear you freaks! If you hurt any of my city’s people… the cops will probably be unhappy!” When Rollo turned back forward, there was no more street in front of him. There were no people, cars, or even any city left. Only water. But he was still running. Rollo looked down and saw a spray of water and a flurry of feet. He was running on the water! Scotchgard works wonders on these shoes! If I can run on water… how fast must I be going?! Since this is obviously a dream, Rollo thought, spreading his arms wide out as he crossed the body of water and ended up on land again. There was no sign of Dumbuni or his posse of misfits, but Rollo kept running. After a couple of moments, he ended up in a forest somewhere, so he assumed Connecticut based on direction. All this is madness. Madness! How can anyone move this fast? As Rollo stared at his feet in amazement he saw one foot get hooked behind his other, This is going to hurt. He thought, as he was thrown into a head over heels roll. He tumbled for several seconds down a hill and through some briars. When he finally came to a stop he was confused, Why is everything on the ceiling, how did that happen? He pondered. Oh. Rollo had landed at the foot of a big oak tree with his feet hanging down in front of him. He sat himself up straight, Ah there we go, He thought as he rubbed his sore neck. “Okay not a dream, if I never do that again, it’ll be too soon.” Rollo stood up still massaging his neck, and looked up at the tree, Rollo gave a slow whistle, “That is a big tree.” Rollo said as he admired the gigantic oak, the tree had to be at least seven feet in diameter, and at least a couple dozen yards tall. “Well this is a strange color of bark.” Rollo remarked, as he admired the extremely dark brown color of the tree. “It’s almost as if the whole tree has been burned.” He said as he reached out to touch the tree. A flaming arrow stuck into the tree an inch away from Rollo’s hand. “Ahh!” Rollo screamed pulling his hand back. “If you want to keep that hand, or stay alive, I suggest you leave.” Rollo backed away from the tree completely, looking up into the branches anxiously. “I really wasn’t that interested anyway. I like my hand, though you can shoot the left one, mysterious tree beings.” "Who are you and what are you doing here," exclaimed the mysterious being. “Bah! Who are you hiding in trees shooting freaking arrows at people? Do you even have a bow permit? And last I checked, it wasn’t Human season in New York City… and where am I?” Noticing the confusion, the strange being lowered her bow and said, "Upstate New York. I’m Willow. Who are you?” “Yeah, uh, I was raised here in New York City. I’m gonna have to pass on giving out my basic information to strangers with weapons.” As Rollo turned to leave, the shadow said something to force his attention. “You seem familiar, a son of Athena perhaps?" All at once, Rollo stopped dead in his tracks and swiveled on his heels to look back into the tree. “So you’re with Dumbuni, huh? Well I’ll have you know that I have had about enough of all this malarkey today! If you wanna kill me and then feast on my remains, go ahead! But I’ll give you bad stomach cramps cause I’m NOT going down without a fight! Show yourself you coward!” Willow shivered in disgust of the thought of eating someone. "You show me no reason to harm you yet, and who is Dumbano?" “You think I’m a fool, don’t you? Saying his name wrong like that would change something. I’ll tell you what. Give me proof that you’re not working with him and his cronies.” He shouted into the tree, still enraged. Seeing no other way to prove herself, Willow shot an arrow down to the ground next to Rollo’s foot making him jump back. “Missed!” He laughed at her, with a smirk. “That seemed counterproductive to wha-” And then Rollo actually looked at the arrow. Caught in the fletchings, dangling on a cord, was a little silver owl. Rollo knelt down and held the little owl in his hand. “This… this owl.” He looked into the tree where Willow was again. “How could you-” Willow jumped to the ground, knowing she had finally gotten the message across. "Believe me now? So now tell me who you are." “Rollo.” Blurted Rollo. “I’m Rollo Sterling.” Nodding in acceptance of the answer, Willow stated, "So it is true, you are the son of Athena. Nice to meet you." “Um, ditto. Even though you nearly shot me in the hand.” Recalling the instance Willow replied, "Oh, right sorry about that.” Willow turned and gazed at the massive tree. “You don't know the importance of this tree, and I am to protect it. To be honest I don't know the importance, but my father made it very clear that this tree is the utmost important thing."

#Percy Jackson #fanfiction #Brian #Norman #Brian Norman

The Curse of Pandora

#Percy Jackson #fanfiction #Brian #Norman #Brian Norman

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