more explaining... x.x
and i do need to change a couple of things, but im not sure how to yet, so i left it as is.
When I woke up for the umpteenth time this… week or what ever, I was someplace else. Not like when I passed out in the dining hall, but like someone had moved me while I was sleeping.
Red rays of sunlight shone through the thin walls of the tent that I had slept under. I was the only one in it, but there was somebody else’s things piled up on the side of the shelter opposite mine. Lovely. So I had to share.
In my grogginess, I missed the fact that my roommate was standing in the door way, analyzing my expressions.
“Hey, I’m not happy ‘bout this either.” She ducked into the tent, taking her shoes off as she went.
“You’re the chick from the practice field.” I blurted, then mentally smacked myself on the head.
“And you’re the dumb one who ran into the tree” She countered.
“Uh… yeah. In my defense, I did have a six-headed poison spewing creature chasing me.”
She cracked a smile. “Your good.”
I had no idea what she meant by that, but she didn’t seem like she wanted to kill me, so I guessed I was okay.
“I’m Samantha. But if you ever call me anything other than Sam, I will knock your front teeth out with no hesitation.” Sam stuck her hand out for me to shake.
I took it. “I’m Iris.”
When she turned her back to me to pack something’s up, I looked her over.
Her hair was shiny and black, obviously not died. Classic tank top and shorts, both black. Her shoes were combat boots that looked heavy, also black, with quite a heel on them. Tanned skin, like she was out in the sun a lot. A pony tail seemed to be her normal style, several hair bands were on her wrists.
She turned. “What are you looking at?”
“Uh…” I was intimidated when I realized her eyes were dark gray, so dark that they almost blended in with her pupils.
“The black eyes huh?” Sam smiled, and for a second she reminded me of someone I knew, but I couldn’t put my finger on who.
She took my silence as an answer, “Lets just get this out of the way now. Child of Hades, k?”
My eyes must have been wide open with fear because she snorted.
“Oh get over it. I’m not gonna send you to the underworld just yet.” her eyes rolled and she walked out of the tent. “Come on. We have a schedule to attend to.”
I scrambled up, and realized that I was fully dressed in a different outfit than I had come here in. I didn’t dare ask how I got that way.
“Schedule? … Actually, I need to find Hestia. I need to get some things straightened out. I still have no idea what the heck is going on here”
Sam flipped around and sat in the grass patting the ground next to her. “Yep. First thing on list. Get newbie’s questions answered.”
“Okay, so I’m of godly decent, right?”
She nodded.
“Who am I descended from?”
Sam shrugged. “Hestia will look at your family tree, and you will also be going through a series of exercises that will help us figure it out.”
“Who is Hestia?” I asked right out.
“She’s the goddess of hearth and home.” Sam gave me a look that obviously said Duh!
“But I mean, how did she come to take control of… this place?”
“Well, see Hestia doesn’t like to talk about it, but Dionysus, the wine god, took her place on the council, so Hestia really didn’t have a place to go. And before this whole thing went down, neither did half-bloods. So Hestia decided to create a home for herself and for all the half-bloods. There are several other places like this, and Hestia’s allies watch over the others, some of the other minor gods/goddesses. She watches over this one, because we are the biggest so far, even though we aren’t the first.”
“Oh. So… what’s up with the pink sobe?”
“Well, see that’s… like our mortal disguise for nectar. I mean, we need to have it accessible to all half-bloods, but we didn’t really want mortals to drink it. So we made it into a type of drink that not many people other than demigods like. If you’re a demigod, you like strawberry banana sobe no matter what. it’s a reflex. And before you ask, yes it tastes the same to everyone. Those legends where it tastes different to each individual are just for the gods. The taste for each demigod is the same.”
“So what’s ambrosia?”
“Well… its actually… those… like this mix thing that is actually called Ambrosia in stores, but no one buys because it‘s so expensive… but mortals don‘t know what their missing! Its really creamy and has sorta like bits of fruit or something in it… I don‘t know, but its really, really good.” She chuckled a little. “Oh, and just to warn you, don‘t eat too much ambrosia or drink to much nectar, ‘cause otherwise the gods will get jealous, or angry and incinerate you… so… be careful.”
The questions came easier now. “Why was there that big battle yesterday?”
Sam’s face darkened. “Some people don’t think the gods rule should have lasted this long.”
My voice came out as a sigh. “That’s what Hestia said yesterday.”
“Oh.” Sam looked surprised. “So you want a better answer?”
“Yes.”
“The minor gods have decided that its their turn to rule. They call themselves the Ancients, don’t ask why cause I have no idea, and they feel as if they should have control. So they are rising up against the gods. Which includes killing off their demigod sons and daughters.”
“Don’t the minor gods and goddesses have kids here? And I thought that some of the minor gods/goddess took care of the other Rooms?”
“Yes. And they are slowly trickling away from us, joining their mother’s and fathers in combat against us. We are weakening, and things don’t look good. That attack last night was nothing compared to what’s to come. And the other gods/goddess are allies with Hestia. They would never betray her. At least I hope not.”
“Wait, a hydra was nothing?!”
“No one even got hurt! Except you!”
“Oh,” I tried not to blush.
“Yeah… if we don’t find how people are leaking in this place, we may have to evacuate to our safe house” I could tell that Sam was trying to conceal her worry.
“But Hestia said that this wasn’t a war, and that it was just a skirmish”
“Its nothing big yet. No attack on Olympus, and nothing strong enough to destroy the Demigods. The problem is that the Titans are stirring and that something or someone, is going to tip the balance.”
“Wait, like a Titan?”
“Could be. I don’t know… its just a feeling.”
I scrambled to change the subject, that conversation obviously over, “Um… so what magical creature type things are real?”
“Pretty much all the monsters from the Greek legends. And some modern fairy tale creatures too.”
“Like which?!”
She pulled a book out of her back pack and handed it to me. “Flip through this and I will show you which are real, and which are myths.”
The book looked like something I could get at Barnes and Nobles. “Where did you get this?”
“A book store…” She stared at me.
“Oh, yeah I know.” I rolled my eyes internally.
“Okay, page one. Brownies. Yep, real, they actually cleaned up our apartments before the dragon destroyed them.” She caught my expression and hastily added. “But that’s another story. Next page.”
I flipped it over.
“K, boggarts, real, but rare. Changelings, not real. Pixies, real annoying, Fire Salamanders… Yep, Natasha almost got her hand burned off a few weeks ago by one. Stray sod, real, and those illustrations of the different types really come in handy. Cockatrices, real, and they are medusa’s minions, so watch out. They turn things to stone the same way she does. Elves, myth. Leprechauns, myth. Manticores, real, and vicious. Sprites, not real. Treefolk, real and better known as dryads. Unicorn, myth, but Pegasus’s are real. You’ll find those in the stables. Kelpies, real, not to be mistaken with harpies. Merfolk, real and you will know it as soon as you jump in that lake. Nixies, yep, better known as Naiads. Sea serpents, check. Trolls. Luckily, no such thing. Dwarves, absolutely not unless you live in the world of snow white. Giants, of course. But not the type you would think. Goblins, yeah, tend to be guardians of the underworld, but they ain’t friends of mine. Hobgoblins and knockers, nope, and nope. Ogres, thank the gods no. Dragons, yes. Griffens, oh hell yes, and phoenixes, no. Banshees, unfortunately are real, and so are gargoyles. Phookas, no, and Will-a-the-wisps are myths as well. You got that whole thing?”
She spoke that lengthy paragraph so quickly that I hardly could turn the pages fast enough. Sam seemed to have this book memorized from cover to cover.
I started to hand it back, but she pushed it into my hands. “Keep it. You need it more than I do” she looked skeptical at my slowness to comprehend. “Your probably not related to Athena, huh?”
My reaction to that statement must have been funny to her because she laughed and stood.
“We’re due for an archery lesson, so come on. Time for the trials to begin.” Her face was completely serious, but her eyes had a slight mock to them, and immediately I knew I would be watched and made fun of behind my back.
Great. Nothing like a little pressure to make you perform well. Right.
Sam began to walk briskly down a worn dirt path into the forest. “Okay, so name 5 things you learned from our talk, and from your disscusion with Hestia.”
“Really?!”
“Really.”
Wow. This was like school. I was tempted to say, First, all you are wack jobs who need help, but I decided against it.
“Number One… I’m a godling of some sort; Number two, I need a regular intake of pink sobe and some fruit thing-”
“Nectar and Ambrosia. That’s what they are. If they were pink sobe and some fruit thing, any mortal could eat them, and they would die after a few bites. So only call it that when we are out in the mortal world.”
“Fine. Regular intake of nectar and ambrosia; number three, there are a lot of magical creatures; number four, beware of Titans; and number five, this place is really a room. As in, it has walls and stuff.”
“Oh, and something else.” She turned to me, a smile playing on the corner of her mouth.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t run from Hydras. Especially not into trees.” Her lips pressed together trying to control the smile that was forcing its way out.
“Ha. Ha. Whatever.”
The archery pit was huge. I mean, it was massive!
Around twenty people stood in a row, shooting arrows at targets various lengths away from them.
“Why don’t you just practice shooting with guns instead of arrows? I would think that bullets could do more damage than a bow ever could.” I blurted.
“We tried that once. But mortals kept getting in the way, and then they would get hurt… it wasn’t pretty. Plus, it did hardly any damage to the monsters, so we decided they weren’t worth it. Older Greek weapons work much better, and no mortals die.”
I nodded like I understood that, but Sam wasn’t fooled, “See, the type of metal old weapons are made of don’t hurt mortals. Its really hard to make a gun of celestial bronze…” She trailed off at my expression. “You really don’t read do you?! Everyone knows what celestial bronze is!”
When I didn’t respond, Sam sighed and trudged over to a trunk made of a glittering material. Her hand groped for a hidden latch, and when she found it, she gently pushed on it, causing the lid to spring open.
Inside lay several shimmering bows, shining so much that it almost hurt to look at them. I squinted a little, and Sam picked one up, handing it to me. She laughed when she saw my expression.
“Takes some getting used to. Here hold this. I want to see if it’s the right length.”
I did as she said, holding it out as I’d imagined an archer would. Sam smirked a little, and pushed my arm up a little higher, shoving my elbow down slightly, then poked and prodded until she nodded, satisfied with my form.
“Well, it looks fine. Now come over here and try shooting at the target.” She motioned over to the line of people, showing me where I was to stand.
“Here?” I squeaked.
She gave me quizzical look. “What?”
“I mean… never mind”
One thing was for certain. There were a lot of people in this arena. A lot of people to see me mess up horribly, then report it to everyone else in The Room. Where then, I would become a joke. Even more of one than I was already.
Awesome. Okay, breathe. Hold bow steady, notch arrow, then let it fly.
I put the arrow to the string and pulled it taunt. Waiting for Sam to correct my stance, I stood still, hoping she would be less vicious than last time. To my surprise she did nothing, just sat and watched.
“Uh…” I said.
I don’t know why, but when I turned to ask Sam if I was doing something wrong, I let the string go. And unexpectedly, the arrow was flung away from me.
It smacked with a loud thunk and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare in disbelief at my target.
The arrow had hit home. Right in the direct center of the bulls eye.
I was as shocked as the other archers slowly migrating to stand around the strange sight.
As they gathered around the target, I stood back, not sure what I was supposed to be doing. I mean, that was definitely not my arrow. Mine had probably flown somewhere out into the grass.
I waited until they began to trickle away before I said to Sam, “Can I shoot again?”
“Definitely. Try to use the same tactic as before. “
“As before? It went in the grass Sam”
“Nope. That’s your arrow in the target.”
I squinted and tried to see it better. Yep, it was pretty much dead center. How in the world did I do that? Maybe… I was the daughter of Apollo? I shoved the thought from my mind as quickly as it came. That was ridiculous. I wasn’t even sure that this was all real.
I notched the arrow once again, aiming towards the target. Thwack! It smacked directly next to the other arrow.
“How-” She began.
“I have no idea.”
“One more time.”
I complied, excited to see what would happen next. Unfortunately, like everything good, my luck ran out. My third arrow zipped into the very outside ring of the bulls eye.
“Aw, Hades. Figures my job wouldn’t be easy this time.” She said. “Once, just once could you give me an easy assignment?”
I stared at her with confusion plain on my face.
“I’ve been head of figuring out who each new half-blood is, err- I mean, each new occupant, and not once have I had someone get it on their first try. I was for sure you were the descedant of Apollo, but no. Of course not! So lets move on.”
As we passed the other people practicing, she pulled one of the guys to the side.
“Hey, make sure she gets into some archery classes. She ain’t got special talent, but she’s certainly good at it.”
The archer nodded and rushed off to do what Sam asked.
“You seem to be in charge here” I said.
“Well, being the child of Hades has its certain advantages.” A small smile played on the corner of her lips.
“Oh.” The way she said “advantages’ made me reluctant to ask for more details.
Her smile reminded me of someone. “Wait, do you have a sister or something?”
Sam shook her head. “No.’
Who did she look like then?… Deanna. That’s who. I completely forgot about her, and India… poor Deanna…What was going to happen to them? And school! How could I forget about school and home, and my friends, and everything!
“Um… sorry to ask another question, but I have… or had, two friends who were with me… and… they…uh…” I choked up and looked down at the ground.
She turned me towards her. “Hey its okay. That happens a lot. Its not your fault. There was nothing you could do. If you know the street that they were on, then we can go and bring them here for you to burn. Ceremonially, of course.”
My heart broke in two at those words, but I nodded. “Yes please.”
I tried not to freak out. Did I want them buried in the ground? No… that would seem… to confining. Cremated though? That’s just like, burning them. Burning them alive. Not alive no…not alive. Dead. My thoughts kept swirling around, turning into a tornado of swarming nonsense. I calmed myself down enough to hear Sam’s next words.
“You can’t dwell on them. You’ve got a whole new life ahead of you. Just gotta believe that they will always be with you.” Sam smiled and then said as if reading my thoughts. “Hestia already sent a note to your parents and your school that you are going to be involved in a program for people with extraordinary skills, which isn’t far from the truth. We didn’t know what skill to say that you had… any suggestions?”
“Probably something to do with English or something. Like an accelerated program for really good students in that class.”
And then we were at a large weedy area with no one in it. There were a few trees surrounding the clearing, but that was it. Absolutely empty.
I turned to Sam, and before I could speak she pushed me towards the middle of the circle.
Feeling like an elementary student I shouted “Hey, what was that for?”
“Okay. This is a test to see if you’re the daughter of Demeter.”
“Which means. . . “
“That your going to try and make these plants grow.”
“And if I can’t-”
“Then your not the descendant of Demeter, so we will have to move onto the next Olympian.”
“Wait, all thirteen of them?”
“So. You do know a little about Greek Mythology. And yes, all of them.”
I sighed and sat down on the dry, spongy moss. “So what do I do?”
“Anything in your power to get the plants to grow.”
I glared at her and almost told her I felt like an idiot, but I’m sure the only response I would have gotten from that is that I look like one too.
Sitting silently, and still was hard, I have to admit. I don’t know if that’s what I was technically supposed to do, but it felt right, so I tried.
And failed. After a few seconds, I jumped up and began to pace. Still concentrating hard, I pictured the vines growing and leaping up the trees, forcing them to move and climb with the sheer force of my mind.
When I opened my eyes to look around, nothing had changed except Sam’s expression. She looked disappointed.
“What?” I growled. It wasn’t my fault! How was I supposed to know how to do something that probably didn’t even exist in the first place?
Sam sighed and said nothing, walking away as if she expected me just to follow.
“That was only the second Olympian we tried. Your not getting bored already?!”
She kept walking and called over her shoulder. “I know. But I don’t have all day, so lets go.”
I jogged after her, muttering under my breath about how ridiculous this was
I'm glad you actually know mythology, as a mythology lover i am always looking for new myths to read on, even though they are depicted as bad in alot of stories, the titans are awesome lol. i have a site you might like, i do alot of research (mostly as procrastination) and as a result, i have tons of links- 