Disappearing

-Disappearing-

It was a normal day at school and I was was walking through the hallway to the office, and I said hi to some of my friends whom I saw. When I walked past the big windows in the front of the office I didn’t see anyone sitting at their desks and such. I opened the door and quietly shut it, hoping this wasn’t just some sick prank to play on the students. Nope, no one was going to jump out and yell “Surprise! Gotcha! Look at your face! That expression!”I was very confused. Many students had come out of the classrooms looking odd. Several students were yelling something about there wasn’t any teachers. I peeked into the cafeteria, nope. I walked all the way to Mr. Dawson’s room, and looked past the door. His chair was empty. It was then when I noticed the posters outside all the classrooms. It screamed ‘LOOK AT ME, YEAH OVER HERE’. Okay, it didn’t actually scream, but you know what I mean. I got closer, and it had bright yellow letters across the top. TEACHERS, ADULTS, AND PARENTS GOING AWAY FOR FOREVER. MAKE SURE TO SAY GOODBYE. I gasped. No way. There was no way this could happen. I backed away, and charged into the crowd. I kept thinking that I should find my friends. I finally found my friend group right by the entrance to the school. Jesse had his head down, Alan was blankly looking outside, Derek looked up at my arrival, and Brandon was looking down at the floor. I was still confused though. “What is really happening here? The parents can’t just leave. This has to be a joke.” But Brandon and Alan shook their heads. “No. They are truly gone. I asked my mom yesterday about it, and she burst into tears and walked away. I don’t know what to do.” Brandon actually looked really sad, and his eyes were full of tears. Alan was looking at Brandon with a tortured look. “Are you sure? I just saw my mother this morning. She couldn’t look at me and my brother when we left. WAIT. What about our siblings?” “I am sure. Your siblings are at their schools too. Probably as confused as we are.” Yes, many people seem to be confused, and I even saw a few people angry. I put my arm around Brandon, friendly-like. “It will be okay, Brandon. I think people will try to find out where they are, and why they are gone.” Brandon sniffled. “I know. I just already miss my mom. Who knows where she is. Or what is happening to this world.” I pulled away, realizing that fact. Where is my mom and dad? There should be people to tell us what to do! Alan then spoke up “What should we do now? I mean, we could go to our houses, but I don’t want to see an empty house just sitting there.” Alan did have a point. “I wouldn’t really like to see that either. Maybe we could go to the Mayor? He might still be here. I don’t think he has any children.” I had no idea if he actually had kids or not, I was just trying to DO something, and not just stand here. “That’s an idea! He might know what to do if he is still here. Who is in?” I stood up and walked toward Alan, and leaned against the wall next to him. “I am in. Friends to the end.” Jesse lifted his head and stood. “I might be kind of a wimp, but I will come too.” I looked over at Derek and Brandon and raised an eyebrow. “You comin’? We aren’t going to wait all day. We have places to be.” Brandon tried to wipe his eyes without us seeing, but he was a bit unsuccessful. Derek came and stood by me and smiled. “Guess we’re staying all together. That’s good.” I just shook my head and half-smiled. I was still thinking about how my parents were gone. Then it hit me. “OH NO. I totally forgot! My animals! My two little dogs! I can’t leave them behind, and alone at my empty house! I HAVE to go get them!” Then Alan’s face lit up. “I can’t leave my two parrots! I have to go too!” I groaned. I guess we have to meet up later. “You guys, we have to go get our animals. I cannot bear to have to leave my little dog, she is young.” Alan’s face was thoughtful. “Maybe…maybe either Brandon or Jesse can go with me to my house and Derek or whoever is left can go with Journey-or uh Faryn.” “That seems like a good idea Alan. I will go with you, and then Jesse can go with Derek and Faryn, or-?” Brandon looked ecstatic to go with Alan. I tutted, and said under my breath how gay he was. When I said this, Brandon turned red and looked away. I noticed, very weirdly, that Jesse looked apologetically towards Derek before he said, “I think I’d like to go with Alan, just because he probably needs help with his parakeets.” Derek nodded, and understood. “Yeah, I understand. Me and Faryn will go grab his two dogs. You want to meet back here, or-?” Alan almost seemed to be the leader of our gang now. “No, let’s meet by the tree where we usually hangout.” I think Jesse just wanted to plant me with Derek. But maybe Jesse just wanted to go with Alan because he is gay?? I am not sure, and I am not sure why I am talking about this when there is more important things to be thinking about. “Alright. We better get going, it takes about 20 minutes to walk to my house. Come on, Derek. Let’s go.” “Ok, I’m coming.” He shoved his autism spinner into his pocket and lifted his backpack onto his shoulders. We just turned around when I heard my name. “Journey! Journey! I have been looking all over for you. Where are you going?” I turned, and of course, it was Cedric. “Hey Cedric. Its Faryn, remember?” He looked at me for a couple seconds, but then remembered. “Sorry, no offense I hope.” “Nope, it’s cool. Me and Derek are going to my house to pick up my dogs. What about you? Are you okay?” Cedric’s eyes were red, and his cheeks were cherry red, as always. “Oh. I am doing okay. I just can’t believe that our parents would leave us. I am so sad that they are not here. I even miss some of the teachers.” He tried to cover up the fact he had been crying, probably in the boys bathroom, and had started babbling. I politely cut across his monologue as quickly as I could, and told him that I didn’t believe him for one second. Not rudely, just pointedly. “Cedric, I don’t believe that. Your eyes are red, and you look flushed. Is it because you were crying, or am I just crazy?” He hung his head. “Well, yes, I was crying a bit.” “Don’t feel bad Cedric. You are just a small child, and everyone cries, or they wouldn’t be human.” I smiled sadly at him. He half-smiled and said, “Ok, I have to go now. I promised I would be with Meloney.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him and laughed. “You go do that. I don’t want to cut into your special time with her.” He just smiled and shook his head. I turned and looked at Derek. He was looking away from me, not smiling. I sighed and shook my head. “Derek, you have to learn that I have a lot of guy friends. Just because I talk for a while with one of them doesn’t mean I like that person, okay?” Derek looked at me, and I could see the smile in his eyes. “I understand. Do you want to get going? Alan, Brandon, and Jesse have already left.” “Yeah, sorry, I just wanted to make sure Cedric was okay, he is only a 7th grader, you know. He is only a small child.” I pulled on my backpack and we left. Once we got my house, I grabbed my dogs leashes and harnesses and locked the front door. We quickly put the harnesses on and clipped the leashes on. “Your dogs are so sweet. What’s the corgi’s name?” I looked down at my corgi. “His name is Siraj. Also, my little one over there, her name is Tulum, but usually we just call her Lumi.” I think Derek cringed slightly, but I’m not really sure. “Well, I think that we should go. Alan and Brandon are probably wondering where we are. I probably should take Lumi because she pulls, a lot. Siraj isn’t that bad. He can get kind of crazy when I pass other dogs and such.” “Alright then.” Once me and Derek arrived back at the school, a lot of students from the school were already gone and probably making their own groups (maybe even looking at their empty houses-I wouldn’t). We walked over to our regular tree, and I immediately notice Brandon and Alan in the tree, acting really gay towards each other. Alan was saying something about being a sexy Mexican, and suddenly I just burst out laughing. I dropped my backpack in the grass and just laughed up at Alan. He grinned. Brandon was silently laughing so hard that he had to hold on to the tree or he would fall. I don’t think Derek heard Alan, and he just kind of awkwardly stood there. “What happened? You kinda just...burst out laughing.” I choked and struggled to speak. “He-haha-he said he was a-hehehe-a sexy Mexican, ahahaha”. Derek just looked up at Brandon and Alan with a look of utter disgust. “Really? You guys are just so disgusting! Why can’t you act your age?” I stopped laughing. Why was he being like this? He usually would have been laughing too! I just looked at Derek weirdly. But Brandon was bothered by Derek and he seemed like he wanted to start a fight. “Wow, Derek, you okay, bro? You seem like you need a cool down! Also, why didn’t you tell Faryn to stop laughing? He was laughing a lot too! Does that mean he is not acting his age too? Or is he a special case?” My face flushed, and Derek looked away from all of us, not even looking at me. Then I heard Alan cry out. I looked up quickly, and gasped. Right above his head was something glowing. It glowed a bright red, and I shaded my eyes, trying to see what it was. I saw a bloody looking stick with a sharpened end, and then I realized it was a spear. Alan was frantically trying to swat it away, but it stubbornly stayed. I knew that symbol! It was Ares’ symbol. I yelped. Could this mean….that Alan was a descendant? As soon as I thought this, the air right above Brandon glowed. He yelped and tried to look up at his head. A golden color had appeared and a winged helmet shone above him. Hermes. Of course. I then spoke this info for my friends. “Alan is Ares’ child, and Brandon is the son of Hermes. Reason this happening? No idea.” Then came Derek. A bright white light appeared above him and the shape of a lyre came to existence. “Derek, you are the son of Apollo!” When all the symbols died out, I realized I didn’t get one. But sure enough, maybe 5 seconds later, a light green color appeared above me to show a piece of grain. “I am a child of Demeter! Oh wow.” I didn’t know my powers, or even if I had them. “This is so confusing. Does this mean my dad is immortal? That’s trippy.” Brandon looked relieved that there wasn’t a glowing symbol above his head now. It seemed like I was the only one who understood this. “Yes, your fathers are gods. It is crazy. I only read about this in Percy Jackson books. I didn’t know this could happen.” Alan and Derek just stood and stared until the symbol above my head disappeared. With all this crazy stuff happening, they seem to have forgotten we were going to go to the Mayor. My dogs were busy sniffing around, and I walked over to the tree and clipped Lumi to the trunk. I went over to Derek and gently took the leash from him. “I’ll take Siraji now. He would probably like to roam around. It might be better for us too.” He barely acknowledged me, and I clipped the little Buddy to the trunk also. “You guys! Wake up! It’s fine! This is a great opportunity! Now the only thing we have to worry about is mythical monsters. I think the only thing we need now is our weapons. Any idea how we are going to do that?” Finally Alan said something. “Yeah, guys. Wake up. I think the best place to go for weapons is Big Pink. In one of Rick Riordan’s books, he has a character who goes to Big Pink for supplies. We just have to find it.” Now Brandon was paying attention, and I could tell that Derek was at least listening. “Yeah, his idea sounds good. But what about the Mayor?” Alan seemed to have recovered pretty quickly (surprisingly, because being the kid of Ares is kinda scary), and seemed ready for action (okay, I need to stop with the puns). Now we had two missions to accomplish. “Well, it’s more of a priority to protect ourselves, but it is also a priority to find out why the parents and adults are gone.” Alan looked around, and suddenly said, “Hey, there isn’t anyone around! Where’d everybody go?” I looked around too. He was right. There wasn’t anyone around. But then I looked inside the school, and there was a little group of 7th graders, talking quietly. “There seems to be a group of kids in the school. We are pretty alone though. I think we should go to Big Pink now though.” We all nodded. As soon as we got up to go, I heard someone calling my name. “Faryn! Where are you? Something terrible has happened!” I looked back, and I saw Jade running towards me. I dropped my bag in the grass and ran towards her. “Mias’ gone! Suddenly she wasn’t there! I think people are taking the kids too!” Her eyes were watering uncontrollably. I didn’t know what to say. “Jade….I’m not sure what to think. Are you sure she didn’t just go to her house, or something?” Suddenly, a bright red-orange color shone above her head. A beautiful torch had appeared above her head, and she yelped. Oh well, I guess she’s one of us now! “You are the daughter of Hecate! The goddess of crossroads and magic.” Once it disappeared, she had a look of confusion on her face. I sighed. We didn’t have time to keep doing this. “Let me explain. No, it’s too long. Basically, we are descendants of gods and goddesses. We are going to Big Pink and collecting weapons. We must be very careful, as there are mythical monsters everywhere.” Surprisingly, she wasn’t as taken aback as my other friends. “I knew it. I knew there always was something different. Something no one could explain.” Now can we go? Every. Single. Time. “You are welcome to come with us. Actually I think it would probably be better for you if you come with us either way though. It is dangerous to be out in the world without something to protect yourself.” She nodded. “It’s really the only thing I can do. But I am not sure what to do about Mia.” I’m also wondering what to do. Is she still alive? Could she be...dead? No, Faryn. Don’t go there. Of course she is still alive. Don’t go dark on me. “We could look for her on the way. I’m not really sure.” Alan cleared his throat. “I think that’s a good idea. But we have to get going. I think, well- Faryn, you have a bunch of bus tickets, right?” I almost said yeah, but then I remembered again. There wasn’t going to be any people manning the busses. “Um, I don’t think you remember, but there won’t be anyone manning the busses. Everyone’s gone.” Alan’s face fell. “I almost forgot. Anyone drive here? Or at least someone who knows how to drive?” Brandon suddenly stepped forward. “I was just practicing driving last week at my grandpa’s house. Last weekend actually. Does that count? I mean, there probably aren’t really much laws right now.” “Yes, that counts. Let’s go find ourselves a bus.” I felt like Alan said that to be kind of heroic, but it’s not really that fancy. We had all slung on our backpacks but Jade had arrived, so me and a few of my other friends dropped their backpacks in the grass. I grabbed my backpack and slung them over my thin shoulders. I then thought busses might be at the stops, just idling, waiting for their drivers to wander back to their seats. But the irony was that they weren’t. Alan was heading in the direction of the 20 and 71 bus. In the distance, I saw the familiar shape of a bus, it’s lights turned off. I groaned. “Oh great. They probably took the keys to the bus when they left! How are we going to start the bus without a key?” But as soon as I said that, a large body fell outside the bus. As we approached, flies were circling the body. Alan walked forward to see what he could see, but as he stepped up to the body, he quickly turned away, gagging. I walked up to it, and almost threw up. There was an old man dressed in a Trimet shirt and gray pants. The front of his shirt was covered in fresh blood. It was still slowly oozing onto the ground, staining the new concrete. When Brandon saw the body, he clutched his chest, trying to hold in the bile, but was very unsuccessful. He threw up into the street-until he was empty of food. I felt very queasy, and I knew I was going to hurl. I then aimed my throw up into the street, and threw up three times. Once done, I wiped my mouth, and didn’t look at the body again. I looked behind me, and Alan was very pale brown, and I have never seen him like that. Derek was so pale he looked dead. The grass around my feet was starting to wither and die. I knew my energy was not good for the plants. I stepped onto the concrete, but I felt tree roots underneath the sidewalk curl away from me. But as soon as I left the grass, a growl erupted from underneath my feet. I stepped backward about 3 feet, and not even a second later, the concrete shattered. It erupted like Mount. Vesuvius in a temper. Once the dust cleared, a giant...dog stood there. This whole time, Brandon and Derek had yelled bloody murder, swearing along the way. “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT??” screamed Derek behind me. I turned around to him and clapped my hand over his mouth. “Don’t make him more angry than he already is. You want to be his dinner?” I said this as quietly as I could. When I turned around, the giant dog growled low. I respectfully bowed to him, and looked up. I almost gasped. The giant dog had three heads!! I immediately went through my head, all the information I had from all the books I read about Greek and Roman myths-came back to me. This had to be Cerberus, the mythical three-headed dog who guarded the underworld from shades escaping. His bright red eyes in the myths were always talked about extensively, but when I looked up into his eyes, they were dim, and cloudy. His growls had moans in them, and sighs too. I knew he was hurting. I knew how he felt. My eyes filled with tears of empathy. Despite my friend’s quiet protests, I approached Cerberus. His eyes flashed dangerously, but he didn’t move. I advanced towards him, slowly. I reached out my hand to touch one of snouts, and once I touched him, he growled softly, but not to intimidate. His eyes closed, when I stroked one of his snouts. My friends were frantically whispering behind me, but I knew that the danger was past. Cerberus could sense my longing and hurt from years in the past. He didn’t even seem dangerous, but I knew, he could eat me up in one clean bite. I leaned my head against one of his snouts, and he whined softly. That was when I heard a little growly voice in my head. “Hello, little one. You are very brave. Only a few, ever, have dared to touch me, let alone hug me. What would you have possibly bothered me for?” I opened my mouth to say something, but I heard someone behind me clear their throat. I turned to see Derek and several others looking very confused. I almost laughed. “Yeah..Um. He is probably not going to bite your head off. But that’s just a probably. He is talking to me in my mind. Can you hear him?” But the others just stared. But Cerberus growled low in his throat. “I can hear someone. Just behind that overturned trash can. Check it out.” I gave him a look of disappointment. “You aren’t going to help us?” “Nah. I think you’ll be fine.” I approached the trashcan, and my friends followed, although, a bit confused. “Come out, whoever you are! We know you are there!” I raised my voice a bit louder, to frighten whoever was there. As I opened my mouth to speak again, a shape came around the edge of the overturned trash can. When it came into the light, I was surprised to find it was only a boy about our age. “Who…. are you?” I was irritated that he hadn’t responded yet. “I am Corey . I was trying to find Cerberus earlier, but it looks like you found him first. I am the son of Hermes. Who are you?” I was taken aback. Another one from the gods! “Hello Corey . I am Faryn, this is Alan, Derek, Brandon, and Jade. We are children of the gods too. I am the daughter of Demeter.” I looked imploringly towards everyone else. Alan cleared his throat and spoke. “I’m the son of Ares.” I could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t like his father to be Ares. I wondered about that. Meanwhile, all my friends had said their godly moms or dads to Corey . I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was impressed. Ha. Impressed by an immature group of teenagers who didn’t take a lot of things seriously? That’s kinda stupid, honestly. God, this teenager probably didn’t even know most teenagers were like that. Blah Blah Blah Blah. “Uhhhhh Faryn, are you okay?” I snapped to attention, like always when I was nervous. All my friends were staring at me weirdly. Alan seemed like the only one concerned for my well-being. “Are you alright? You seemed kinda spacy there. Is there something wrong?” I blushed slightly. Damn, people can be so observant. “Uh….I was just thinking. Nothing’s wrong. I think-” A large shape came rushing toward me. I realized it was another body. Before I could react, it hit me with full force. I fell backwards, yelling. I tried to scramble away, but no avail. This body was kicking, punching, biting, and scratching every inch of my skin it could see. My friends stood frozen for a moment before going to full battle mode. I’d never seen this happen. Cerberus had disappeared, without a trace, I was fighting for my life against this thing/person/whatever, and my friends turned out to be badasses. I fought back viciously, hitting anything that moved. But I soon realized I couldn’t fight, but the only thing I could do was defend myself. I blocked most of the blows before my friends hauled the person off me, we were both bloodied up. When my vision cleared, there was a short, black-haired scruffy boy on the ground, wiping his bleeding lip. I suddenly felt sorry for him. I approached him cautiously, and spoke. “Are you alright? I’m sorry I was so vicious. But damn, you could fight!” He glared. “Yeah. I guess I’m okay. But who the hell are you guys?” He stood, and I flinched. I guess I still was afraid of him. “Well, we are just a large group of kids. We are trying to survive. But the real question is, who are you?” Alan shifted slightly behind me. “I’m Ash. I guess you could say I am trying to survive also. I can tell you are the children of gods. I am the son of Janus.” I flinched again. How in the hell is this kid a child of Janus? I mean, he was angry earlier, but now he seems a bit more agreeable. I was hesitant saying my lineage. What if he was just some crazy kid who thought he was the son of some god or goddess? “Just a moment, Ash. I’m going to confer with my friends.” I turned around to see many expressions confused or incredulous. I led them slightly away and spoke quietly. “Do we trust this kid? I mean, he kinda just attacked me. He could have came from some psycho hospital.” Brandon snorted. “Ha. Yeah, this guy is weird though. He just SUDDENLY appears and attacks us, then tells us he is a demigod? What the hell? I mean that’s really weird. I say we trust him. Weird is in, normal is out!” Alan had a thoughtful look. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. Let’s trust this guy. If he throws out our identities to random people, I say kill him.” I gasped. “Alan! It might not come to that though! I agree too. I think we should trust him…...for now. All in favor of telling him our lineage?” Everyone nodded their head. We walked back to the place we had the fight. Ash was sitting against the wall, trying to stench the ever flowing blood from his lips. “Sorry about that, Ash. Didn’t know I would hit that hard.” I did really feel sorry. “We agreed to tell you about our families. My dad is Ares.” Alan seemed like he wanted to say it as fast as he could, so he wouldn’t decide to not say it. “I’m the son of Demeter, as Alan said, he is the son of Ares, Derek is Apollo’s kid, and Brandon is the son of Hermes.” The whole time, Ash had his eyebrows raised, and his mouth set in a grim smile. “Wow. That’s a lot of you. Didn’t realize you were all demigods. Nice. By the way, why did you say you were the ‘son of Demeter’? Are you just a guy who looks like a real pretty girl?” My face burned, and I knew it. “I am fucking trans, you idiot. You also don’t need to flatter me, because it won’t work.” This time, his face flushed. I looked at my group. Everyone had mixed looks. Brandon seemed a bit confused, Alan looked serious, and Derek looked confused at this conversation. I glared at everyone. “Yeah. You heard me right. Don’t look at me like that! Just because I might be trans, doesn’t mean you can judge me just because I look like a goddamn girl.” Suddenly Derek’s face tragically changed. He looked sad, and lost. “I’m sorry, Faryn. I just wasn’t really expecting that to be a real thing. I don’t think any of us did.” I felt a hot, flaring flame of anger inside me. I tried to speak, but Derek interrupted me. “Faryn, we like you for who you are. You don’t have to be male, you don’t have to change your gender to be with us, and you don’t have to feel like you don’t belong. We like you for the way you are.” I was stunned. Then I realized Ash was watching this whole thing. “Achem. Well, you just saw something I don’t think you wanted to see, right away, or ever. Sorry about that. But we should get some sleep. It’s already past midnight, at least.” As we bunkered down by a deserted 7/Eleven, I thought about what he said. What if that was exactly what I was thinking when I felt like a guy? I don’t really know. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow. As I wrapped my jacket around me, and leaned against the wall, I felt the air move next to me, and I looked over to see Derek sitting next to me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and held me close to him. I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. Vaguely, I heard him whisper, “I love you. Sweet dreams.” I felt just suddenly so happy. I quietly said, “I love you too. Good night.” He put his cheek against my head and I fell asleep quickly. In the morning, I found myself curled up in my usual catlike fashion, and Derek was still sleeping next to me. I lifted my body up into a sitting position, and I was stunned to see Oliver standing in the middle of the little field in front of all of us. His hair was windswept, and his eyes wild. “Faryn. Didn’t know you’d be over here. I came to find you guys, because, well, I have not so good news.” I quickly stood, and walked over to Oliver. “Doesn’t every day bring something bad? Well, let’s hear the worst then.” Oliver gulped. “Okay then. Well, uhh, umm. You know how Jesse had that shrapnel lodged in his arm? Uhh well, I’m sorry to say...he didn’t make it. There wasn’t-” My eyes filled with tears. Soon enough, I felt tears falling. I suddenly hugged Oliver. He looked surprised, but he hugged me back. I finally let go, wiping my tears on my sleeve. But they kept falling. I turned away, walking towards everyone. I couldn’t tell them. But I knew I had to tell either Alan or Derek eventually. Derek was stirring, and he opened his eyes. When his eyes rested on me, he got up quickly. “Are you alright? You’re crying.” He then looked over my shoulder, and saw Oliver. He glared at him. “Did you make him cry? And what are you doing back here? We haven’t seen you since yesterday morning! What do you want?” I flinched at his loud voice. “Derek, he is here because, well, Jesse isn’t coming to our group. He’s….moved on.” A fresh flow of tears came. I didn’t know I could cry this much. Derek gaped. But then his face hardened. “So...you just came here to tell us the saddening news, and think you will be allowed to stay in our group? Are you just so fucking stupid to think that? What the fuck?” I could tell his eyes were slightly wet too. Oliver balked, and said in a very quiet voice, “I just wanted you to know. I’m sorry that he did. There wasn’t anything anyone could do. He just lost too much blood. I’m sorry.” He was backing away, expecting to be sent away. I glared at Derek and marched over to Oliver. I felt genuinely sorry for him. I think he could tell. “Oliver...it’s okay. If no one could do anything, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. Also, you are welcome to stay with all of us, however long you want. No matter what people say, I will be by your side. You might sometimes be an idiot, or annoying, you are still a person. And no one has the right to treat you like that. Especially you, Derek.” I turned towards Derek. “Derek, you have been rude to him enough. You have kind of bullied him. Since...I don’t know…. Since I think 7th grade! Just because he is annoying, doesn’t mean you should do that! I’m annoying, and you don’t do that to me, or pretty much anyone else. All I’m trying to say, is that I don’t want to hear you talking shit about someone I call a friend. It’s just not right. Do it around people that also don’t like Oliver, or something.” I was breathing heavily, as if I’d ran a marathon. Finally, I had said it. Something I had needed to say for ages. Derek looked shocked. I knew I had hurt him, but it had to be said. “I’m touched, Faryn...but I don’t know if I should stay, because, well, I mean Derek seems like he doesn’t want me around.” “No, Oliver, you can stay, or you will leave with me. I’m not going to leave you out there in this dangerous world.” Oliver’s cheeks burned bright pink, and he couldn’t look at anyone. “Faryn, you don’t have to do that. There are other groups out ‘there’ too. I could just go join another one.” I shook my head. “No, you are my friend. I wouldn’t do that. Stay. I will welcome you, as I know others will too. Maybe not some people though.” I looked meaningfully towards Derek. Derek was struggling to speak. But he then he put on a brave look and said that he wasn’t bothered by it. “I’m not so bothered. I mean, I do talk shit about a fair amount of people.” Oliver flinched. I just flushed with anger. Why??????? Why does he have to be this stubborn? Such an idiot. That’s exactly what I said too. “You idiot. Why the hell did I even decide to fucking date you, you asshole.” I started crying again. I grabbed my backpack and suddenly realized everyone was up, watching this. I did a double-take, but I quickly ran out of the clearing, ignoring several people’s cries to wait. “Wait! Don’t go!” “Faryn! Come back!” I ignored them and kept running. I didn’t stop running. If I could, honestly, I would just keep running away from everyone and everything. But, eventually, I had to stop to rest. I looked around. Nothing looked familiar. But then I saw the high school I would have been going to in the fall. Franklin High. I kept walking until I reached the football field, too tired to go any farther. I sat on one of the walls facing the football field, thinking about what had just happened. I made sure I was in the shadow of the wall, not to be seen. Suddenly, I see Ash running into the football field, his eyes wild. “Faryn! Come out! Something’s wrong with Derek! We need your help!” I stirred, but I didn’t get up. His keen dark eyes searched the walls, and the field. His eyes finally rested on mine, and they were filled with compassion...no-sadness? I couldn’t tell. He spoke. “May I approach? You still seem sad.” I sighed, but nodded. He quickly hurried over to me and also quickly spoke. “Faryn, I don’t know you very well, but it seems like you were fighting with your boyfriend?” I nodded. Not noting it was kind of one-sided. He swallowed nervously. “From what I got, he seems very stubborn, but it looks like you are too. But he can’t stop beating himself up for being so mean to you. I can tell he is very sad and won’t stop until he sees you or you stop him from hurting himself. You need to help him.” I shook my head, knowing I would regret it. “I can’t help him now. He needs to realize he hurts others when he does those kind of things. I need to go see if the Mayor is still here. Tell him...tell everyone I am sorry and I will see them later.” I got up, ready to go, but Ash stopped me. “Wait. Just wait a moment. Walk with me for a second, please. I won’t take all your time.” I sighed. Fine. Whatever. We walked for a bit, and he didn’t say anything at all. But he then turned on me and asked whether we would be breaking up. I just looked at him for a moment. What in the bloody hell? Where did that happen to come into the picture? “Uh, well, I am not really sure. I am still very angry and sad at him. He didn’t seem to care at the moment.” Ash’s eyes gleamed. “Sorry if I pried into your personal business. I was just wondering.” I doubted that. Muchly. I felt a stab of annoyance. And a little smidgen of sympathy. I didn’t really know what to say other than I was still taken, and I wasn’t thinking about dating anyone else at the moment. But I felt a little awkward and knew it wouldn’t be a good thing to say right at the moment. I said I would go back with him to see what happened with Derek. I guess the visit with the Mayor will have to wait. We left the football field and walked quickly back. The only thing Ash did was look down at his shoes the entire time. I walked in silence, almost happy that he didn’t try to talk, or I might just slap him. We arrived back at the camp, and I knew people were going to ask where we were, but I wasn’t going to say anything. I almost asked where Derek was, but everyone just pointed. Only one street away, in a deserted alley, he was sitting against the dirty wall, muttering to himself. But I had no idea what he was saying. I slowly crept up to him, not knowing what to do. I saw his face and gasped. His face was covered in scratches, and his arms were a bloody mess. He hadn’t looked up when I gasped, so I knew something had to be wrong. Well, obviously if he had bloody arms! I knew I had to say something. “Derek?... I am here now. I’m sorry I was such an asshole.” Derek flinched and looked up. His cuts were very severe, now that they were in the light. His eyes were cloudy with pain. But there was something else there too. Maybe just a trick of the light. I knew that I had to help him. I sat next to him, and his eyes widened, finally registering I was there. He looked at his arms, and looked at me. I almost cried. Where was the boy that I loved? The boy who liked to make people laugh? The boy who most of all liked to make me laugh? All of that seemed gone. I started to wipe at the blood on his arms, and his eyes widened again, almost surprised I was helping him. He struggled to speak. “I...I am sorry. I know I shouldn’t be that selfish and stubborn. Faryn, you don’t have to say sorry, you did nothing wrong. I deserve someone to yell at me for my stupidity. Now look at me, I am just a piece of sliced up meat.” I almost snorted, trying not to laugh. I guess he could still make me laugh. Even when he was pretty much covered in blood. Andddd he was definitely didn’t want to make a joke right then. I kept dabbing at his cuts and scratches, trying not to hurt him. But nevertheless, he did wince several times. Once he was pretty much cleaned up on his arms, he pulled away. “Thanks. But I can clean my face myself.” His cold response shocked me. I wanted to help him because it was my fault he looked like this. “Well, alright. What exactly happened?” He sighed. “I...broke a window and I was trying to crawl through it, and the glass was scraping my arms and I fell to the other side. I had a piece of glass in my hand and when I fell, it broke against my face. After that, I got caught up in the moment and I kept cutting myself. Not that smart. I guess I was just angry at myself.” I smiled. “But now you are okay. You don’t have to keep going back to it.” I turned away and was walking back towards the others, who seemed too ‘scared’ to come see him. I heard movement behind me, and before I could turn, Derek had hugged me from behind. I turned rigid from shock, and he let go. I turned around and hugged him. He almost pulled away, but then he hugged me back. I quickly whispered, “I love you. Feel better.” Before I would chicken out. I let go and went to go see everyone else. Everyone was preoccupied with what they doing, and some people had found food still good in the large refrigerators lining the wall. I grabbed a Sprite and pretty much chugged it. I found an ice-cold water on the other side of the fridge and chugged that too. I heard someone laughing behind me. I turned to see Brandon laughing his face off. “Whatcha doing there Faryn? Trying to make a record of how much liquids you can consume in 2 minutes? Cause you’re doing a pretty good job!” I laughed. “I guess I was just thirsty. Slurp.” We both started laughing so much that my eyes were becoming wet. Some of the others who heard laughed too. Ash came back into the 7/Eleven. “Guys, there’s a fire close by, we gotta go.” I quickly stopped laughing and got up. “How close? Like, how how many blocks?” “Four.” I knew that was too close for comfort. “Yes, and it’s probably getting closer by the moment. Let’s get into the bus! I will drive if you want.” So, that’s how we got started (finally) on our journey. No pun intended. Finally by the Mayor’s house, the bus ran out of gas. We had been driving for almost 7 hours, and I was sore. While getting out of the bus, I suddenly remembered my birthday was coming up soon. I actually said it too. “I just remembered. My birthday is in about a week. I will be turning 15. I don’t expect you guys to get me anything, so don’t worry.” Wonderful joke in a moment of depression. I jump down the stairs to go into a store for the bathroom, and I hear a shot. Next thing I know, I am on the ground, blood splattering everywhere. I vaguely notice it’s in my leg, and I then I pass out from the pain. When I wake up, I just see the ceiling of my house. I try to rise up, but someone pushed me back down. “Faryn, you need to rest, you have had a very bad accident. No talking either. Just rest.” Someone fed me some applesauce, and I felt better already, but I felt extremely tired all at once too. I fought to stay awake, but no avail. When I wake, I am able to sit up, but still feel sore. My room was deserted, but it looked like someone had been sleeping with extra blankets on the ground. It looked very uncomfortable. I opened my door, and walked into the living room. It was dawn, and the Sun was just coming over the horizon. All my friends were sleeping either on the couch or the ground. I heard someone knocking around in my kitchen, and I went to investigate. I soon saw it was Derek, quietly talking with Jade. When they heard me, Jade took one look at me, and then glanced at Derek. “I will let you guys talk. Call if you need me.” She stepped outside and jumped on the long-broken trampoline. I looked back at Derek, and he smiled. “You seem to be getting better really fast. How are you feeling?” I smiled back. “I am feeling okay. Were you the one who kept telling me to just rest?” “Yeah. I just wanted you to feel better. You kept whimpering in your sleep.” I walked slowly over to Derek, and gave him a hug. He hugged me back, fiercely. “You scared me for a minute. I thought….you were never going to wake up.” I smiled again, and pulled back. “I’ll always be here. Don’t worry. Not even some stupid kid trying to shoot me will make me leave! Haha.” We both laughed softly. I knew that I was going to be fine. He laughed awkwardly again and said how he was sorry that they had kinda just barged into my house without asking. I was trying to be serious, but it didn’t work. I started laughing really hard. He looked at me weirdly, and obviously didn’t know what to say. “Derek, haha. It is totally fine. It is a good thing too. I wouldn’t be as comfortable anywhere else! I should be thanking you. It isn’t that shitty. You could tie me to my bed and torture me, but this isn’t that bad!” He just smiled and searched for the cereal. I sighed and opened the one cupboard that he didn’t check yet. “What kind you want?” He laughed. “Well, it was for you, so do you want to choose, or should I?” I smiled. “Surprise me!” He laughed and told me to turn around. I turned around and waited for him to choose a cereal. Damn. The stuff we did was so stupid. When he told me to turn around again, he held a box of cranberry granola. I just shook my head and laughed. “I very much dislike fruit in my cereal. It has to be by itself or I won’t eat it. You really don’t know my taste! Haha.” He used his finger to make a tear rolling down his face. “Oh. I really don’t know your taste. Maybe you should choose.” Then Brandon stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Hey guys. I think Faryn wants the Frosted Flakes. I sure do.” I smiled and nodded, kind of surprised that he knew my taste. “Yep. Just because I am a girl doesn’t mean I can’t have the sugar cereal. Good job, Brandon, I didn’t know you knew me that well.” Brandon just shrugged. Derek seemed sad he hadn’t guessed my type of cereal. This is so weird. Well, anyway, we ate breakfast, and people kept filing in from the living room to eat. Weirdly enough, I kept looking around, feeling like someone was spying on me. Then I noticed Ash was sitting in the living room on his computer. He motioned me over to him. I reluctantly went to the couch and sat down. On his screen was a Instagram. Instagram was blowing up. There was pictures from all over the USA of empty schools, empty stores and empty homes. It was overwhelming. I didn’t know what to say. I just sighed and I knew my face showed sadness. Ash put his arm around my shoulders, trying to be friendly. I flinched, but didn’t pull away. “This is so terrible. Why is this happening?” Grass started growing through the cracks in the floor. I heard a yelp, and I turned to see Brandon being attacked by little daisies. He kept brushing them off, but more kept wrapping around his legs. All the emotion in my heart was becoming uncontrollable. I grasped the armrest of the couch with my hands, trying to stop the tidal wave of little white flowers on Brandon, but I couldn’t control it. He was gasping now, but I couldn’t do anything. Everyone was shouting and yelling, trying to help him, but they were getting entangled too. I knew only one more thing that could help. I sang a note of a pop song I knew. The daisies barely reacted, so I knew I had to sing the whole song or something better than that. I sang at least two songs, all calming and soothing, but the flowers didn’t really react. I sang another song, but this time, it was much faster, and they started dancing with it. They slowly uncurled themselves from Brandon and some of the others, shaking their flower heads to the beat. I raised my voice, and sang with all my heart, and my voice begged them not to hurt my friends. The flowers bent to my will, and slowly withered away into the ground. All my friends were frozen with shock and surprise. I cleared my throat, and excused myself to the kitchen. I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it to the brim with water from the tap. I drank all of it, but I felt like I was going to throw up. I gagged slightly, there was throw up in the back of my throat, threatening to spill over. Five seconds later, I was outside, and throwing my insides out. I didn’t know the ground from the sky. All I knew was my throat and what was coming out of it. I felt woozy, and almost fell to the ground, but I felt someone catch me before I hit the ground. I had no energy whatsoever. My vision was cloudy, but I knew it was Ash. He carefully lowered me down on the bench in the yard and the world wasn’t rocking anymore. I leaned down and placed my hand on the ground, feeling the soil. A little weed grew out of the ground and curled around my hand and my arm. I lifted my hand, and the whole plant came out of the ground, and I felt relief. But right behind that thought, I felt so much confusion and I was lost. What was going on? But then I came out of my thoughts, because I realized someone was talking to me. “Faryn, are you okay? I see you threw up. What happened? You saved Brandon!” I just shook my head over and over. “No. That was me the whole time. The flowers were me. I sang because that was the only thing that I could do to control the plants. I don’t know what is happening right now, if you are asking that. And no, I am not okay!” I felt tears in my eyes, but I held them back. Ash didn’t look surprised. “I am just glad you are feeling better. I see the plants help calm you down. But I also see that they also can get out of control. To help you get better, how about a little Harry Potter pop quiz.” I laughed slightly. The things he would say at the weirdest moments. “Sure. I could make myself feel better by talking about something familiar. I don’t know though. My brain is kinda foggy right now.” “We will just see how much you remember. Wink. I think you will remember more than you think.” He asked me very easy questions, but gradually the questions got harder. I had to sit and think about at almost every question he gave me. Soon, the questions turned ridiculous, and both of us started to laugh and couldn’t stop. When I finally tried to calm my breath, Derek walked out onto the mini porch, and immediately the laughter died from both of our faces. I got up, and opened my mouth to speak, but my legs were still weak, so I almost fell over. Luckily, Ash grabbed me around the waist to make sure I didn’t fall. I gasped, for all the air had rushed out of me at once. Ash quickly lowered me down on the bench, and wouldn’t look at anyone. Derek’s face was kind of unreadable. “Derek-” He shook his head forcefully. “No. I understand now. You like him, I can tell. Just...don’t lie to me. I’m done with you.” My mouth was hanging open as he left. I covered my mouth with my hand, and choked. “No, Derek! No...I’m sorry.” I sigh, knowing I can just explain it later to him, but also knowing he probably wouldn’t forgive me. I glanced at Ash, and he locked eyes with me. He opened his mouth, but I knew all he was going to say was that he was sorry. I just shook my head. “Ash, it isn’t your fault. I know all you were trying to do was help me. Derek is just being difficult. Like always.” He closed his mouth and just looked down at the ground. I got up and went into the yard. I climbed onto the old rotting wood block wall and managed to not scrape myself on the rough wood. I climbed around the ivy growing over the side and scrambled behind the huge fence that my neighbors had made. There was a little gap behind the fence and the giant rock hill that was made by the neighbors who lived ‘above’ us. I found a perfect big flat rock and sat down. I pulled my legs up close to my body and leaned my face into my knees. I closed my eyes and felt little tears squeezing their way through my eyelashes. They slowly found their way down my face, and dripped onto the rock. I thought had shed all my tears long ago. I don’t know how long I sat there. Suddenly, I felt something weird. I looked down to see an adorable cat. It was black, and had bright green eyes. Something triggered my memory. I close my eyes and I see in the distance a smallish black cat. This made me remember my cat who disappeared so many years ago. My eyes stung with the memory. I desperately called out to the cat. “Kodo? Is that you? Kodo?” To my surprise, the cat meowed in response and rubbed it’s head against my arm. I tried it again, and it responded in the same way. But this time it jumped into my arms and licked my hand. I choked, shock and relief consuming me. “Kodo….Kodo, is it really you? Oh, Kodo, it’s so good to see you. No, its amazing! What made you come back my little kitty?” I was shuddering. How was this possible? Kodo just purred and bumped her head against my chin. I started humming a lullaby to her. I just searched my mind for a random one. The first one that came to my mind was ‘Little Bird’. My favorite from my childhood. Suddenly, I couldn’t hold it back anymore and I started to sing. I sang with all my heart to Kodo and the world. At the last note, I opened my throat to hold it. It rang throughout the neighborhood with one last sound. Once finished, Kodo stretched, and jumped off me. She went out of my view for a moment. I turned around, and several of my friends were just sitting there. My mouth fell open. Oh god. I shouldn’t have sang. Oh no. Derek was one of them. He eventually opened his mouth and spoke. “Wow, I, uh, didn’t know you could sing so well. You kind of mesmerized us. Thanks for singing. That was amazing.” I knew my face was flaming hot. I kept stuttering and I couldn’t look at anyone. When I finally forced my eyes to move up from the ground, and to my friends, I saw that several of them had left, and probably had gone back into the house. “I didn’t know-that you were sitting there. Um. Well, shows how much I know. I guess I should go now?” No one argued, but I did notice all their faces were slightly dazed, like they had been hit over the head with something really heavy. I got up, but stumbled and fell. My face scraped the side of a rock, and I felt something crack. I groaned and tried to get up. My hand was on fire. When I looked down onto my hand, I almost puked my whole breakfast onto my friends. It was just a mass of skin and red muscles. Blood dripped and dripped. Tears came to my eyes, and I was shaking. I used my other hand to steady myself on the fence, but couldn’t hold the weight of my body, so I kind of crumpled against the wall. Ash was busy trying to pull himself up onto the big logs that held up our back wall of a yard. He winced every time he scraped himself even slightly on the rough wood. That’s when I blacked out from the pain. Here we go again…..When I woke, I was in my bed again, and in much pain. I tried to sit up but it hurt so much I cried out in agony. I fell back, out of breath. My door opened with a creak. Ash rushed in, his face full of sadness. “Faryn, are you doing better? You’ve been asleep for 2 days! We need you. There is a very large group of people who have been asking for you for several hours! They’ve captured your friend Brandon!” I gaped at him. “No way!” At least I tried to say that. Nothing came out. I tried again, and I managed to say it. He nodded vigorously. “It’s true.” I tried to move again, and it was only slightly easier. I managed to swing my bandaged leg over the side of the bed, but I didn’t have the strength to lift my whole weight. Ash tried to help me, but shrinked back when he saw my bandages. Blood was seeping through already. My hand was also wrapped in gauze, but I knew it was broken. It throbbed horribly. I laughed softly, but immediately regretted it. “You don’t have to help me, Ash. I can do this by myself. Can you take my wheelie chair and put it in front of me?” He nodded quickly and got my chair. I sat down as quickly as I could without it hurting too much. He wheeled me out into the living room. All my friends were quietly talking to each other, and when they saw me, they looked up hopefully, but their faces feel when they saw me in the chair. Derek came over to me and kissed me in front of everyone. I kind of pulled back, and he noticed. His eyebrows came together for a moment, but his face then relaxed again. Sort of. “How are you feeling, Faryn? Can you walk?” His eyes rested on me sitting in the wheelie chair and his eyebrows came together. “No, I can’t stand. But….I have an idea. Could you wheel me out into the backyard? I think it might help me.” He obliged, and when he wheeled me outside, I felt plants reaching out to me immediately. I lifted my hands up towards the trees in the backyard, and I called out to them in my head. I felt the plants and the trees reaching, and I felt branches winding their way around my body. I tensed, not knowing what they were doing. But I trusted them not to hurt me. I eventually relaxed as the trees and plants wound their way around and lifted me up. There was several small gasps, and movements, but, without controlling my actions, my mouth opened, and I sang. I sang for the trees, I sang for my friends, and I sang for everyone in this insane world. I didn’t see them, but it was like I could feel my friends stop and stare. My voice made the plants quiver with excitement, and the branches circling my whole body started glowing. I felt my body slowly healing, and the plants around giving their strength. I told them not to give too much. I guess it was like mentally talking with the plants. Honestly, I didn’t really know what was going on. The plants rose with me, seemingly dancing with my voice. When I paused for breath, the plants around me dropped me, but I hit the ground on my feet. I felt undefeatable. I felt full of energy. I felt I could fight an army by myself and win. When I turned around, all my friends had either fallen down, or just were staring blankly at me. I looked down to see my body clothed in a soft green shirt made of leaves, and light brown pants. They glowed a soft green color, and my hair was clean and glossy. My skin was bone white. I start to sing my thanks to the plants for lending some of their energy, but I felt someone grab my arm. I turn to see who it is, and its Derek. His eyes were glassy, but I could see that he was returning to his natural state. “Derek….? Are you okay?” I was actually quite concerned for him. “Yes, I am alright. My mind is a bit fuzzy, but if you kept singing, I might forget who I was!” I flinch slightly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that my voice did that…” I was so confused! I thought my voice was horrible! All my friends eventually revived from hearing my voice. Ash was skeptical that I was completely healed, and he wanted me to rest more. “No, I will see these this people that took Brandon. I think that they will think twice about messing with the daughter of Demeter.” I say these words, and a bright flash of light appears in front of me. A beautiful young woman had appeared. “Miss Fox…..I think it is time for us to have a chat. I am Persephone, the daughter of Demeter.” I gaped. She would be my half-sister! Wow, wasn’t Persephone the goddess of spring and new life? Wow. “Well, I uh, I am honored to finally meet you Persephone. Thank you for coming to see us.” “Oh, it’s my pleasure. Now, let us get down to business, Miss Fox. I think you should first know that I am your true mother.” I just stared. No. Way. No way she was my mother. Demeter was my mother, right? “I thought….Demeter was my mother! Is that not true?” “No. Your true mother is me, but many people mix up my symbol and my mother’s symbol, because we are both goddesses of grain and a season. I do not take offense.” I tried to process this. How was my mom Persephone? All this time I thought Demeter was my mom. “Are you sure? I was so sure that that was her symbol…” I just kind of left off there, because Persephone raised her eyebrow at me. “I think I know my daughter when I see her. Yes, Miss Fox, you are my daughter. I also think that Demeter would know if she had a daughter. Especially if her name was Journey Sky Fox. A name full of power only a daughter of Persephone would have. Now, I think you should prepare yourself for what is to come.” She disappeared in a flash of green light. I rolled my eyes. WOW. That cleared everything up very well. Well, I guess it’s true-gods and goddesses always try to make everything dramatic. I look over and see Derek-he was frozen! I grabbed him and tried to shake him. When my hands touched his shoulders, he unfroze. “Derek, what-” He shook his head like a dog trying shake water from its coat. “Oof, what did you say? I kinda blanked out there for a minute.” I just stared. How did he not just see Persephone? Well, they definitely knew how to make things private. “Oh you didn’t really miss much. I just said that we...need to go get Brandon!” He nodded. “Yes, we must. I bet he is wondering where we are!” I nodded vaguely and we all walked to the front of the house cautiously and we immediately noticed the group. Many were older high schoolers, but another fair amount were middle schoolers who went to Mt. Tabor. I felt almost betrayed. I walked in front of them and planted my feet. “So, it seems you have taken our friend Brandon. May we have him back, now that I am here?” There didn’t seem to be a leader, until a small high schooler stepped out of the crowd. His face was scarred, and he had windblown dirty blond hair. “That’s it? I thought you might be a burly senior. But this...this is disappointing. I was hoping I could fight for this territory...I guess I can’t.” I almost snorted. This little mortal thought he was better than all of us. Well, that’s stupid. He is stupid. “Well, here I am. This is all you get. By the way, this is my house, and you are a stranger, so I don’t know why you think you can just strut in here like you own the place.” He smiled, and I could see his teeth, which were rotten. Disgusting. I don’t know how people live like that when they don’t take care of themselves. He had stepped forward several times, and I finally noticed Brandon, seemingly unconscious, in some girl’s arms. His blond hair was streaked through with something dark, and he was completely limp. Anger flared, but I tried to hold it back in my voice. “Well, can we make truce? I am willing to allow you to overtake most of this street, but this house is off limits. I don’t understand why you want this specific home. It’s just a house, nothing special.” The boy snarled. “I don’t think you understand! The more property I get, the more authority I will have...Its not about the worth anymore, it’s about the space. Got it? It’s not because of your stupid little house. Also, I think I might keep your friend for a little longer, just to see how much torture he can withstand.” I heard leaves crunching loudly behind me, and I realized Derek had started running at him, his face full of rage. “How DARE you?!? How DARE you say something like that about Brandon!!” I quickly turned around, and grabbed him as he ran by. The force of him running forward almost pulled me off my feet. “Derek! Calm yourself! We must not aggravate this group. Please refrain from charging them.” He had fallen, and several people across the yard chuckled. My face turned red with anger, and I knew it. “Shut up! You have no right to laugh, you goddamn idiots!” Their laughs subsided, but I could still see smiles. “By the way, girl, whatever your name is, your ‘Brandon’ still hasn’t admitted he is sleeping with you! You want to say it, so everyone knows?” What? I am DEFINITELY NOT sleeping with Brandon!! “Excuse me? You think I would do that? I think your priorities are a little off. I think Brandon is right, not saying we are sleeping together, because we are definitely not.” My face was on fire, and I felt several people behind me shift slightly. I almost wanted to attack their leader. “Yeah, I think that’s the reason why you care about us taking your little ‘friend’ so much. I think you are playin’ dirty. You probably have a cover boyfriend, while you screw this Brandon!” I knew that if I stepped down, he would overtake my home, and probably kill us. And, if I let this mortal aggravate me further, everything will be lost. But, if I tried to attack, I know, this boy knows that we are outnumbered. By a lot. Either give up my home, or get overrun by middle schoolers, and high schoolers. The high schooler smiled grimly at me, and his rotten teeth showed again. Hmmm. I don’t think I remember them being green! Suddenly I knew who this was. Ah, shit. Please tell me this isn’t Polyphemus. Or whatever giant Poseidon had. This isn’t good. We had to get out of there-fast. I am taking no chances, even if I have to give up my home. I realized I had been staring at the giant, disguised as a small high schooler. I cleared my throat. “Achem, well, I have thinking, and I think it would be alright if you took my house. Can you give us a couple hours before we have to go?” I heard someone behind me shift. I didn’t blame my friends if they were confused or mad that I made that decision. I would explain later. The giant (disguised as a boy, still) grinned horribly again. “Of course! Why would we not let you? Yes, you get 2 hours. Only. Once that 2nd hour comes to end….we will move in. Better hurry. Guys, lets go! We’ll be back in a bit!” He called to his friends, and they left, him almost seeming like an Alpha dog, barking to his pack. I breathed out, thankful that the giant had decided to leave us alone. I knew that what had just happened was a miracle. Usually giants would attack on sight. I noticed I was shivering, and I rubbed my arms, trying to get warm. Turning back to my friends, I almost laughed. There was Derek, who had a look of shock and confusion, and Ash, who looked like someone had slapped him across the face. I think several people noticed my small smile. “Oh, you think its funny? Picture yourself in our-” I tried to interrupt as politely as I could, because I learned Derek could be pretty savage when he wanted to. “I know you must be very confused, and probably even shocked that I did that. Well, I have a very good reason I did what I did. That high-schooler wasn’t actually a person. He was a giant, I think he was one of the Titans children. Ha, you probably don’t even know who the Titans are.” I laughed grimly. This was going to be hard to explain. “I understand, Faryn. If you want to go in the house and do whatever you need to do, I can explain quickly what happened.” Ash, of all people, knows what is going on? Surprising. Shit, this was going to be hard. “Yes, I will do that. Thank you so much, everyone for being so patient. But I give more thanks to Ash, for his help. Thank you, Ash. I’ll see you guys in a bit.” I turn away from them, and walk up the old, rotting stairs. I open my door, and once I shut it, I felt my eyes fill with tears. I let them fall, because I know I won’t be able to stop them. I walk over to my two little dogs and tell them everything will be okay. “Siraj, you are so old, I don’t know how I will be able to transport you! And Lumi, my little girl, I know you are very energetic and playful, but I am just worried that you will get killed!” I sigh, and sit on the couch, holding Lumi in my hands, wondering what to do. I sit there for probably more than ten minutes, holding her, and trying to think of what to do. Then it hit me. I quickly got up, and ran to my room. I started gathering up all my belongings. Once I had collected everything, I went outside and crawled behind the garage. I found the hole I had dug years ago, covered in a large, very heavy piece of wood. I knew I couldn’t take everything with me, so I had to do something. I then started piling everything inside, but not everything fit. I didn’t know what to do. I sat down on the ivy-covered wood, and held my head in my hands. I knew that I was just too attached to these worthless items. But a small voice in my head kept telling me different. No! It said. These ‘worthless’ items mean everything to you! Don’t lie to yourself. Hmmm. Then, without thinking, I jumped up and ran to the garage. When we first moved into that house, there were several scares of people coming into our house, trying to steal things. So we have had to lock all the house and garage doors. I knew that it was going to be broken into sometime, now that there were no adults, or older than 16 years old. So, I knew I would have to bury everything. But I knew, I knew I would be coming back for these things. I dug a hole behind the garage, and fitted everything inside it. I covered it with dirt and brushed my foot over the spot, so it wouldn’t seem suspicious. I would always remember where my belongings were, and I didn’t need to mark it. Once I stumbled out of the ivy, I saw Ash step out into the yard. His eyes were unusually dim, and he didn’t seem as lively. I had only met him late last summer, before school had started, but I could notice these things in a heartbeat. Before I approached, I quickly wiped my face. I didn’t want to show weakness, even though I knew he had already seen my tear-stained face. I walked to him, and wrapped my arms around him. As he put his arms around me, I whispered that everything was going to be okay. “I’m sorry you have to know these things, I really am. It’s hard, I know.” He just shuddered. I knew I had put a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. “Ash, Ash, I am so sorry. Please forgive me, sometimes I just don’t see the responsibility it takes for this…” I stepped back and wouldn’t look at him. But I felt him grab my chin and move my head so I could look him in the eyes. “It’s not your fault. I also am not feeling bad because of you. Just because we are the sons and daughters of gods and goddesses does not mean its your fault. You say sorry for things that are not your fault! I will be fine, Faryn. Do not worry.” I sighed deeply. I guess I do blame myself for things that could not be my fault. I just...don’t understand why he isn’t affected as I would. He is an interesting creature. Well, demigod, I should say. Takes some getting used to. I clenched my fists. I suddenly decided the giant wouldn’t get my house. They had no chance against my strength, and Alan’s. I had no idea what Ash’s powers were meant to be, because he is a kid of Janus. I feel little tickly feelings on my fingers, so I look down. Vines were slowly crawling up my arm, and I knew they were poisonous. I tried to move, but the plants grew up my body faster and faster. I soon was a grass cocoon, and I heard Ash cry out. I couldn’t have him hurt too. I called to the plants in my mind, and pulled them towards me. It almost felt like a clock ticking, inside me, and I knew the 2 hours were over. I tried to walk, but I mostly glided. Grass and weeds flew around me in a mini tornado. Then I called out to Ash. “Prepare yourself! The gods are on our side today! Let them fill you with energy!” I heard him shout, I turned quickly. His whole body was bathed in pure white light. Purple scarves of light circled around him and then it was followed with convulsing. Black light was slitting through him, and I knew a major god was trying to use him as a host. That’s when my rage took ahold of me, and my body took over. I don’t remember what had happened, but when I came to, Ash was swathed in lavender light and dressed in Roman armour. His eyebrows were drawn up in a frown, and I was sitting-no laying on the ground. Mud was smeared across my arms and I knew on my face and legs. My hair was pulled back and there was wreath of flowers placed into it. I chuckled. I then just burst out laughing. Oh, I must look ridiculous. I got up, and I heard shouting in the front of the house. I then knew the giant was back. I needed a weapon. I felt a heavy weight on my shoulder and I craned my neck to see what had appeared. A giant bow, perfect size, and, as I could tell right away, made of yew. I took it off and tested it with ease. I looked back to Ash, and his face was filled with...fear? Shock? I smiled grimly. I heard the back door open, and there was Alan, dressed in a dark red bikers jacket, and a spear. Well, Ares’ had done his job. Maybe a little too well. He looked between me and Ash, and flicker of something showed on his face. It passed, and he spoke. “Come on, we need some help you guys. We can’t hold them off by ourselves!” I could see Ares’ shining through him. I stepped forward, testing my legs to see if there was any tension, or stiffness. None. Persephone had done an amazing job. Meanwhile, while I had been offtopic, we headed to the front of my teenage years house. Surprisingly, a huge fight hadn’t really been started yet, especially with Derek there, trying to support me. I walked up behind Derek and whispered in his ear. “I got it from here, Derek. The gods are on our side today, so we need not to fear this giant.” I spoke without control of my tongue. It’s like someone took my ability of speaking by myself. Derek hadn’t got his aura yet from Apollo. I needed to protect him. I stepped in front of him, and pushed him back a bit. “We all know something was fishy here. Come out, Giant! We will fight you. The gods are on our side this time! So don’t think you’ve got the upper hand!” The giant only stood there, smiling thinly. “I think these little demigods should be taught a little lesson in manners! Now, before they die, we should pay respects to mighty Gaia, the Earth Mother! She will help us!” The giant, still disguised as a teenager, held his hands out, as if in prayer. A rumbling sound came from the ground, and I thought Gaia herself might jump out. But nothing appeared. But then, I knew it was just a trick to get me to lower my guard. The kids who were on his side, suddenly cowered and shook. They looked at each other, not sure what to do. Alan strode forward. “Guys! Don’t let that giant take over your life! Stand against the evil!” I knew it wasn’t going to work well, but I didn’t stop him. Several kids stepped back, their heads down. Several older students had defiant looks and rolled their shirt sleeves up. The only thing going through my head was-Oh shit. Smaller students didn’t stand up for themselves, and many of the older students also didn’t want to get on this giant’s bad side. Yeah, I wouldn’t normally want to aggravate one of the major giants, but this was too far. I wouldn’t let him step any closer to my home. This was my territory- Giant. Surprisingly, I saw Alan take out his phone. “Alan, what-” He smiled at me. “Music makes you braver, my friend. I’m not feeling that brave right now, even as Ares’ kid.” I smiled. Music does make you braver! I quickly grabbed my phone and earbuds. Derek cleared his throat and then suddenly yelped. Apollo was making his move. I chuckled uncontrollably. Derek was decked out in a short tunic and a gold bands around his wrists. My eyes were becoming wet with laughter. But he glowed with light blue light and I knew he was much more powerful than he looked. At least, I hoped. I then knew I wouldn’t need my music. “Alan, put away your music. I know a better way. We, ourselves, need to sing. Sing! As loud as you possibly can! It will make us stronger, but Persephone and Demeter will help us! Sing!” I opened my mouth and sang. I sung one of my favorite songs. It was called “Lights Down Low”, by MAX. The whole tune makes you wanna swing and tap your feet to the beat. I sang as loud as I possibly could. I could hear Alan taking up the beat. I don’t think Derek knew the song, but his slight smile at me told me he liked it. Well, that’s surprising. I didn’t think he liked music. Oh well, people change. Then my voice turned beautiful. Deep tones and light tones all in the right places. It resonated, but softly. I heard Alan stop completely. I tried to motion for him to continue, but he just stared. I glanced over to Derek, and his face was pale, and drawn. I shook my head and advanced. I took my bow off my shoulder and let my voice die down. I grabbed an arrow from my quiver and nocked it. I pulled back the string and shot it. It soared through the air and hit its target. The giant’s calf. The poor teenagers body he was using collapsed in pain. There was a flash of light, and a 24’ giant stood in front of us. My mind stuttered in responding with the situation and balked. I closed my eyes before I saw the change, because it is said it will burn demi-gods’ eyes out. Well, anyones eyes would be burned out. I shouted a warning. I heard someone gasp up behind me. I didn’t check to see if everyone was alright and charged. I drew a dagger from somewhere, and backstabbed many young adults. I knew once the giant was gone, they’d be out of his spell. The dagger was a simple one, mostly just a blade and a leather handle. But I noticed there was etching on the blade. Obviously, I didn’t stop and read the writing, because I most likely would die. Alan was battling the giant. I fought my way over to him. “Hey, you need some help? Seems a bit much for just one to fight a giant.” He smiled grimly. “Yeah, some help would be nice. He’s faster than he looks.” He lifts his spear, which crackles with red electricity. I lift my bow and nock another arrow. Alan charges, as I stay back and shoot. As we fought, I knew our lives were on the line. If Derek, Brandon, or Alan died, I wouldn’t ever forgive myself. I knew I had to protect them. But, how, all at once? I’d just have to pay attention. As I thought of that, the giant had swung around and lunged at me. I quickly dodged, and flipped out of his reach. He kept coming, and I noticed Alan was occupied with a couple kids trying to jump him. My anger flared, and I took my dagger out of its sheath, and stabbed the giant in the foot, twice. He howled, and focused his attention to his wounded foot. I ran and stabbed as I went. I was a stabbing machine. I almost scratched Alan in the process. Bodies lay in waves all around me. Many still, were gasping with pain. I stood there, panting, and was frozen with shock. I did this? All of this death and destruction? Just to protect my friend? I guess I did. Anyways, before I stood before mounds of bodies, there was a giant attacking us. Kind of hard to miss that. Unless you’re just REALLY preoccupied with something other than a giant attacking you. Jeez, I just can’t focus. Anyways again, while this giant is stumbling around, getting closer and closer to collapsing the roof of my house. I suddenly felt a deep stirring inside me. I felt very odd. I looked down, and stumbled. My body was changing. My arms were shrinking, and my legs were shortening. I felt myself being lifted from the change. I closed my eyes, and kept them shut until I felt it was finished. I opened my eyes to see wings flapping on either side of me. I move my head, and gasp. I am an owl. Some kind, I can’t remember. I can’t remember if its Persephone’s animal or Demeter’s. I try out my wings, and am startled by how strong they feel. I hear a snarl, and turn my head so fast it hurts. Where Derek had stood, a giant wolf stands. His face is twisted in a horrible snarl, and he bared his teeth at the giant. The Titan somehow had gotten over his pain in his foot, and was concentrated on these giant vines wrapped around his legs. I screeched loudly and dived. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ash turning into something also. A griffin, maybe? Alan had turned into a vulture. Derek was the only one without wings. Ash, aka the griffin, decided to stay on the ground to help Derek. The Titan turned to swipe at Alan, aka the vulture, and he quickly swooped out of reach. I screeched again, and I then knew I was a creature of Demeter. A screech owl. Just a very large version of one. Damn, it’s annoying to have feathers, but good at the same time. I dived at the Titan, weaving in between Alan’s talons. I landed on the giant’s shoulder and scratched and pecked every piece of skin I could reach. He howled. I jumped into the air, and flew away as fast as I could. I circled above, and noticed Brandon, slumped in the driveway. I screeched in distress. I swooped down and landed beside him. He was half sitting, half lying, but he was slowly dragging one leg. I stretched my head to see it. It looked fine, other than maybe a bit roughed up. I couldn’t talk, so I tried to screech to him. He looked over at me, and frowned. “Who’re you? Is that you, Athena?” I hopped over and pressed my feathery forehead against his cheek. I cheeped like a baby chick. I churred and peeped my reassurance. He still looked dazed and confused, but he petted my back. I tried to purr like a cat, to show I liked it, but I was silent. I peered up at him, making my eyes shine, to try to tell him who I was. I felt a stirring in my chest again, and I burst into quiet green light. I was changing back. Thankfully, I was still fully dressed. I was kneeling next to Brandon, back in my outfit that Persephone had chosen for me. He looked up, and looked astonished. “Faryn..? What’s..happening?” I almost laughed. Oh, Brandon. I was just giant owl. Obviously you’d be a bit shook if your friend was just a owl. “Ha ha, sorry, Brandon. Yes, I just was an owl. Seems like the gods are on our side today.” I wish people would just accept things as they happen. It’d take less time than us sitting there and me explaining. I came back to reality, and realized my friends had turned back into their regular selves. Well, shit. I looked back to Brandon, and was undecided. Should I take him to safety, or help my other friends? I couldn’t decide. “Brandon, are you able to move yourself to somewhere safer? Maybe inside? I don’t think this is such a good place for you to be right now.” He nodded. “Don’t worry, Faryn. I’ll make it. Go.” My eyes shined with compassion. How sweet. He’s so brave. “Ok. I’ll see you soon. Hurry, please.” I turned back to the fight. Derek was busy stabbing the giant’s feet and ankles, and Alan was throwing his spear into the Titan’s chest. I stood back and nocked an arrow to shoot. But Ash was the one who threw the killing blow. He had disappeared for a moment, but suddenly appeared on the Titan’s shoulder. He took his gladius, and sunk it into it’s shoulder. He howled once more, but disappeared in a glow of gold colored light. I smiled triumphantly. Alan yelled victory, and Derek smiled and nodded. I turned to my friends and sighed. We did it. But I started searching for Brandon then, worried he might not have survived. I soon found him hiding downstairs, inside my house. He had a knife beside him, and he was lying in a pool of blood. I ran to his side, and tried to lift him onto his back. He groans loudly and more blood spills. I cringe so much I almost dropped him. I lifted his torso onto the tattered couch, and then pulled his legs onto it as carefully as I could. When I pulled my hands away, my hands were dripping with his blood. I almost threw up. I ran to the bathroom and wiped my hands on a towel, hanging up. I ran back, and found Ash, kneeling, with his hands on Brandon’s mouth. Cutting off his breathing. No, no, NO. I tried to push him away, and I heard yelling. It was from my own mouth, I realized. “STOP, ASH! HE WILL DIE!” I grabbed at his jacket, but someone pulled me back. The person grabbed my arms and pulled them to my sides. I then felt the strength and I knew it was Derek. I watched as Brandon slowly lost his breath. I turned away, before he completely lost his breath. Tears welled up, and I turned into Derek. I just let him hug me. But he tapped my shoulder, looking into my tear-filled eyes, and said, “Look. Ash wasn’t trying to kill him. Actually, quite the opposite.” I turned my head, and Brandon’s mouth was glowing. Ash had placed his hands on his arms also. His face was tilted down, and his arms were rigid. Even from where I was standing, I could see he was shaking. I knew that he couldn’t take much more, so I stepped forward. Derek tried to hold me back, but I gave him a look of assurance. “Ash, stop. It might kill you. Let me take over. I can finish it.” He looked up. “Are you-sure?...It’s..really hard.” I nodded. “Step away. Also, you might want to close your eyes.” Ash obliged, and stepped away. Both closed their eyes and covered them. I stepped up to him. I didn’t know what to do, but my body took over. I kneeled in front of him and leaned over. I placed my lips on his forehead, gently. White light exploded from my lips. It pulsed, and I felt energy being drained from me. I was swathed in dazzling white light, and I felt myself being lifted into the air with Brandon. I hugged him, giving as much energy as I could. As the light faded, and we were on solid ground again, me and Brandon hugging fiercely. I slumped, energy-gone. Surprisingly, he supported me, and placed me on the couch. I leaned back, and tried to catch my breath. I vaguely remember someone sitting next to me, but I was too focused on not passing out. Shit, I gave him a bit too much. I heard my name through the haze. “Faryn...are you ok? Your eyes are a bit cloudy...Wake up! Don’t pass out! You have to stay conscious!” I opened my eyes further, and noticed Brandon had grabbed my hands, and were rubbing them fiercely. “Good, you’re awake. Now, don’t fall asleep. You gave me too much. Why?” I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Why did I? What did I give too much of? I couldn’t think straight. “I don’t know. I can’t think clearly.” I lifted my hands to my face and rubbed my eyes. Shit, shit, shit, I gave too much. This isn’t good. I asked for water as clearly as I could. “Please, give me some water…” Someone passed me a glass of water, and I slowly sipped it. It was almost impossible to swallow. I choked, and dropped the glass on the ground. It shattered, and a piece went into my hand. I winced, and tried to pull it out, but it dug farther into my skin. I dropped my hands tiredly. I didn’t want to even try anymore. It wasn’t worth it. I sighed, and closed my eyes. Someone put their hands on mine, and squeezed. I opened them again, and Derek was sitting next to me, looking at me concernedly. Brandon had gone off to the bathroom, and Ash had gone somewhere also. “Derek-what-” He just shook his head. “I’m sorry this happened. Don’t fall asleep. That’s what Brandon kept telling me before he went upstairs. But why did you give more? You should have stopped.” I just shook my head. “No, I couldn’t do that. He deserved that much. He’s always so weak, and in pain.” He gave me a glare. “Really? Just because he’s a little low on energy doesn’t mean you have to give him more! He doesn’t need your help, Faryn!” I looked at him in disbelief. “How do you know what he needs, or wants? He’s my friend, and I didn’t realize I gave him more!” I placed my hands on my face, and sighed. “I can’t do this. I sometimes get like this, and I don’t want to. I have a family history of anger, and hatred. I’ve always tried to steer away from that...I’m so sorry.” I shudder, remembering, so many years ago. I sigh again, and try to compose myself. So much emotional shit. All he does is grasp my hands tighter, and look away. Brandon comes back, and I pull away, almost instinctively. I almost wince at myself. I must seem so cold. I stand, surprised I can hold my weight on my legs. Brandon smiles. “You’re looking better already. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear you singing again!” I stood still as stone. So, someone thought it was a good idea to tell him. “Oh, I wasn’t told. I heard you, Faryn. In the haze, I heard you. It was that powerful.” I surprisingly felt my cheeks warming. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It made Derek all disoriented and act almost drunk. I don’t think that’s good.” He just smiled. “Maybe that could be used as an advantage? I could use that in video games.” I smile slightly at that. Both of my friends are obsessed with video games now! Or maybe they already were, and I didn’t notice. I climbed the stairs without much trouble, and found Ash sitting at the table, his head down. I went over and touched his shoulder. “Ash? Are you alright?” He lifts his head, and sighed. “I didn’t realize how much energy it would take…” I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. This must be soooo hard to give less than half energy to him. Why do I feel so...angry? This isn’t me. I’ve been becoming so aggressive... I think it must be the strain of living this life, and my mind and body are still getting used to this. Anyways, I think my anger, or frustration showed in my face, because he gave me a confused look. I quickly cleared my face, and looked concernedly at him. “Will you be okay? I don’t want you to be low on energy if we get attacked. I can give you some energy, if you-” Derek suddenly spoke up. “No! Faryn, you can’t give any more, whatsoever! You aren’t stable!” I gave him a incredulous look. “I’ll be fine. He’s the one that needs help. I can’t leave him on his own…” I take half a step, and Derek grabs my arm. “No! I can’t let you do that again. Brandon would kill you, if you did. Not literally, but please listen to me.” Ash just sat there with kind of a glazed look. “You don’t have to. You gave a lot of energy. I didn’t. I appreciate it, but you don’t have to help everyone.” I just shook my head. “I want to help. I don’t want you to be in pain-anymore.” He smiled a bit. “You don’t have to be everyone’s saviour, all the time. It will hurt you too much.” I stood stone still. But that’s what I do. I can’t let people deal with this alone. It hurts me to see them hurt. Deep in my thoughts, I felt a small voice telling me to step back, this time. I knew I should heed that voice, so I backed off, and stepped outside. I clenched my fists, and sighed. I must remember to control my emotions. People shouldn’t see. I sat, not sure where to turn. I felt small tears forming, and I blinked them away. No one would see me cry today. Even the plants. I closed my eyes, and let the surround sounds fill me. My ears tuned to the sound of birds chirping, leaves rustling, and a dog barking. I didn’t hear anything suspicious, but I had a weird feeling. I opened my eyes, and was startled so much, that I almost fell over. A giant feline was stone-still, looking at me with unblinking eyes, next to a tree. It’s eyes were wide, and scared-looking. It cowered, and disappeared behind the tree. I slowly pulled my bow from my shoulder, and nocked an arrow as quiet as I possibly could. Could this be a trap? I stood, and stepped as stealthy as I was taught. I avoided as much pine needles as I could, and walked as lightly as possible. As I came close to the tree, I knew it had already ran away. Whatever it was. I felt a rustling at my feet for a slight moment. I looked down, and was startled to see a giant rat rush out from behind the tree, and run across the yard. I gave myself a huge scolding. How did I not notice? This must be a shape-shifter. I quickly dropped my weapons and followed the rat. I don’t know how far I ran, but I knew I was right. The rat soon ran behind a trash can, desperate to escape me. I smiled slightly, and called to the plants to hide me. I felt an odd draining feeling, and looked down. I almost burst out laughing. I was completely camouflaged, and blended into my surroundings. I mentally sent huge thanks to my friends, and continued to follow this mysterious shape-shifter. I almost lost this mysterious being when it turned into a bird, and flew too high to see. I asked for another favor, almost pleadingly. It seemed Persephone was on my side for this. I couldn’t think of any animals that could fly, that were related to plants. But, my friends must’ve. I closed my eyes without control, and when I opened them, my mind went blank. I had huge wings, compared to my body. They were a colorful orange and black. My mind eventually figured out that I must be a butterfly. I flapped my wings frantically. Surprisingly, they were very strong, but light. With just a small push, I was able to go faster than I wanted to. I spied the little bird not far from where I lifted into the air. I followed it, darting between tree trunks, and almost lost it. Soon, it dropped down, and changed into a lizard. I sighed, and followed it. I changed back into a human, and quickly took note of my surroundings. Trees, dirt paths, leaves, must be Mt. Tabor Park. I tripped over a tree root, and I thought that might be it. I scrambled behind a tree and waited. I heard a crunch, and was startled to see a human pass by. The shape-shifter must’ve finally turned into a person. I slowly followed this person, still unsure if it was safe to not bring any weapons with me. Then I remembered the dagger I had hidden in my shoe. At least I wouldn’t be defenseless. This shape shifter was clumsy, and didn’t know a thing about spying. He stepped without making sure he wasn’t stepping on pine cones, sticks, and leaves. I cringed every time he (assuming the gender) stepped on a stick, or crunched a pinecone. I followed him until he eventually stopped underneath a tree in a clearing. I crept around the clearing, and when he (assuming genders once again) slipped off his hood, I was taken aback at how young he was. I had been right. It was a...boy? He had to be around our age. He looked around nervously, and sat. He had slipped out his phone, and was doing something. I thought for a moment. The only way I could think of, to approach him, was to sneak up and surprise him. Nervousness, and astonishment, that was the key. I slowly slipped the dagger out of my shoe and crept as quietly as I could, around the clearing. Every time he lifted his head, I immediately stopped and crouched down. I finally made it behind the tree. I peeked around it, but immediately regretted it. I shrank back, unsure. He had gotten up, and I hadn’t heard him. I gripped my dagger, not sure if I should bring attention to myself. But, it seemed I didn’t need to make my appearance, because he had already seen me. He stepped towards me, but I was already gone. I ran quickly, and much quieter than the shape-shifter behind me. I was always known for moving quickly and silently, even through tough terrain. I ran, and tried to hide behind trees and bushes, but he kept finding me. I slipped behind a tree as fast as possible and then ran around it and changed my direction. I heard him slip on the slick dirt and he cursed quietly. I hid behind the largest tree in the area and crouched down. The shape-shifter slowed, and he placed his palms on his knees. He panted, and then spoke. “Alright, I give up. I wasn’t going to hurt you, you know. I just want to talk. Please come out. I know you’re close.” I looked at him in interest. Hmm. Should I believe him? I’ve always been so trusting, and never as suspicious as maybe I should be. I was undecided. The shape-shifter obviously knew he wasn’t that convincing, and he cleared his throat before he started talking. “I know that wasn’t that convincing, but I seriously won’t. I won’t hurt you. I just want to...know what you are…” I was silent for a moment. I made up my mind. I held my knife in my hand, but hid it behind my leg as I walked slowly out. I just happened to be slightly out of his view, so I shuffled the small stick at my feet. He turned abruptly at the sound, and almost fell. He stared at me, and I could tell he was surprised. I walked hesitantly towards him, and kept hiding my knife behind my leg as I walked. I didn’t want to trust so easily. I was ready for anything. I slowly circled him, studying his features, and other small things. He stepped forwards with his right foot...dominant hand must be his right...unless ambidextrous? No...that is too rare... His hair was cut short, strong-looking shoulders, and his face...was interesting. It seemed...almost...closed off, or like it was hiding something. Everyone has something to hide, I suppose. He was studying me also, and I scoffed. There wasn’t much there to look at. I suddenly stopped. I had to ask him a question that only a child of the gods would know...but also that a mortal wouldn’t ask nosy questions! I opened my mouth and was about to speak, but this...teenager spoke. “I...wasn’t expecting…” I almost smiled. “You weren’t expecting...me?” He nodded. “I wasn’t really expecting...a human.” I smiled for real this time. He must be so naive, or just knows nothing about fitness. “Do you happen to know anything about Percy Jackson?” I then thought for a moment. He did say human… “Yes...That was my favorite book series...Why are you asking?” He looked at me, then quickly looked away. “I…am one of the chosen. Only a true reader of Percy Jackson...would understand that.” I nodded. “I understand. I am also. Who is yours?” He shuffled his feet reluctantly. “My father is...Poseidon. Um, what I mean, is that I’m one of Poseidon’s sons. What about you?” My eyes widened a bit, but I kept my compulsion. “I am a child of Persephone. Why did you chase me?” I tilted my head ever so slightly. His eyes followed the movement, before clearing his throat and speaking. “Like I said before...because I was interested in what you were. I thought you might be some creature that I haven’t discovered yet. Sorry.” I looked away. But I knew I had already smiled a bit. “Its cool. It would be weird if you saw some random...thing, running. Something that looks like a human, or some human-looking thing.” He smiled a bit too. I suddenly noticed the light was fading, slowly, but noticeably. I cleared my throat. “Um, so, I’ve gotta get back to my...group. You can join us, if you’d like. Everyone there is a son or daughter of the gods. Besides, you’d probably survive better that way...No pressure, though…” I realized I’d started babbling, so I shut up. I shuffled my feet awkwardly. He finally spoke, after a long silence. “That would be nice, not being alone. But I don’t want to intrude.” I smiled. “Oh, it’s fine. I think everybody would like to meet someone like you. I was surprised as you when I found out you were a shape-shifter. There aren’t a lot of those left.” “I was born like this. My parents were so freaked out that they put me in a mental hospital. But they soon realized it was just some part of me. They couldn’t get rid of it, so they took me away from my parents. I don’t think its cool. It ruined our-my chance, to have a family.” I sighed. That was a really sad story. “I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to be...positive, about it. Sorry.” He smiled grimly. “It’s okay. I didn’t know them well. So it’s cool.” I shifted awkwardly. “I guess...follow me?” He nodded. I smiled again. “Try to keep up. I don’t like stragglers.” I turned quickly and started sprinting.