Chapter Twelve

I gasped, letting out a surprised wail as I stumbled back. The Minotaur shot up again, turning to us. Harlow growled under her breath, and suddenly lunged for the Minotaur's club.

I watched, suddenly intrigued by her bust of energy as she wrestled the club from his grip. She let out a triumphant noise and held the club to the sky, then swiftly - with a power and strength I've never seen a human possess before - swung the club around and hit the beast at the back of its head.

It let out a slow moan, then fell back down, motionless.

"Okay... is it actually dead this time?" I asked, scrambling up. She shrugged, rubbing her hands together. I crouched over the beast, careful to have the energy nearby if we needed to use it. After a moment of silence, i pressed two fingers to its throat; and never have I been more relieved to feel nothing.

"Dead." I Said triumphantly, leaving back on my legs. I felt like there was cotton in my brain, as if I was watching myself from someone else. My breathing was slow and shakey as I tried to remain calm.

"Backup has arrived." Harlow stayed matter-o-factly. I heard the crunch of gravel and looked up. Lee was heading straight towards us, a look of deep concern set on his features, behind him, Ducky and Gabriel were running.

"What the hell happened here?!" Lee demanded, seemingly not out of breath. He didn't break his gaze from the creature's body but I could tell he was scared and angry. To be honest, so was I. I was cold, tired and I slightly felt like I was going to purge. Bile bubbled up my oesophagus and my intestine felt like it was being squeezed by a vice.

Suddenly, my stomach flipped and I stumbled to the side, before heading up the contents of my stomach, nearly able to stop and breath and I crouched on the gravel. Once my stomach was happily empty, I rose shakily up to my feet.

Ducky came over and gave me a hug. I was tense under his arms, the adrenaline still pounding; but eventually my muscles relaxed and I let Ducky hold some of my weight.

Harlow's lip quivered. "I don't know. We were just getting Scarlett home then this Minotaur attacked." I removed myself from Ducky and wrapped my arm around her although I was worried too. I went to hold her hand but she flinched away, her palms were wet with some sort of liquid. My stomach dropped when I realised it was blood.

"Gabriel," Ducky beconned him over with a flick of his hand. He came over, silver eyes gleaming. He gasped when he saw Harlow's hands but pressed his own palms to hers. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, giving be a chance to properly study his face. He was so much more attractive when his brow wasn't creased or his lips were turned down. A few beads of sweat formed on his forehead and it made me feel dizzy.

Finally, after hat seemed like an eternity, Gabriel drew out a breath and released Harlow's hands. My mouth was open agape when I realised the wound was gone. I caught Gabriel's eye and he winked, making my cheeks go hot.

"Will someone tell me what the frick just happned?!" Ducky exclaimed, pushing between me and Gabriel. He looked at Gabriel's pale hands. "And what the frick was that?" He pointed to the Minotaur. "And what the frick was that!"

"Ducky," I said slowly, putting my hands on his shoulders. I took a deep breath. "It started after the comet. Me and Gabriel have been able to... do things. Change things. In the physical world." Lee snorted and I shot him a deathly glare. "And I don't know what happened with the Minotaur. I don't even know how it died or where it came from. It said something about Saints...?"

Ducky shrugged and I exchanged a look with Harlow. I turned to see Lee's reaction, and my eyebrows knitted down when I saw how white sheet pale he had gone.

"Are you okay?" Harlow said, cupping her elbows with her hands in her own hug. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Yeah- umm..." he trailed off, glancing at the ground. His dark brown hair shielded his eyes so I couldn't see his expression. "We need to discuss something. It's urgent."

"Are you kidding? Dude, no offence, but it's 11 o'clock at night. Most of us have responsibilities 'n' shit." Ducky crossed his arms.

Gabriel looked at the ground, diffing one of his Vans into the gravel. "I mean we could go back to my place and call it a sleep over?"

I nodded. "I mean, I told my parents I was going to Harlow's for a sleepover anyway; what's the difference?" Was I probably too eager? Yes.

"Okay," Gabriel looked at everyone else, who gave affirmative murmurs and nods of agreement. Gabriel pulled a face suddenly. "Where's Scarlett?"

Harlow pointed to behind a large stone pillar, where the sound of soft snoring came. I stifled a giggle.

"We should probably dispose of this body though," Lee said, pointing to the Minotaur as Gabriel went to find Scarlett.

"Way ahead of you," Harlow said, dragging the 700 lbs creature towards the wall.

***

"Here it is," Gabriel lumbered into the room, holding what appeared to be a book that was as wide as it was deep - like a cube. He let out a heave as he dropped it into the floor of his bedroom, and we all crowded around it.

"What is it exactly?" I asked after a moment. One of my hands fiddled with the tassels on the rug as I sat cross legged, making sure to keep my skirt down across my legs. My dress now, however, was ridden with dirt and blood - that not even Vanish Stain Remover could replace.

Lee spoke up. "It's a book that all witch families have to have - it's the rules. It has a lot on information and omens and allocated danger zones if we were discovered and things like that."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, cool." I said lamely, I didn't really know what else I could say about the matter.

"Yes. Cool." Lee said, then started muttering to himself and flicking through the pages. I let my eyes wander across Gabriel's room. He had a king sized bed, with dark red silk sheets on top (of which Scarlett was ruining as she lay on the bed. She had come back to consciousness on the way back here, and she was mad that she missed the fight; to say the very least) a large three door closet plus a vanity and a desk, and even on one whole side of the room there was a bookshelf stacked with novels and stories, towering from the ceiling to the floor. It was big and expensive, to say the least.

"Here it is!" Lee's yelp of excitement made me jump back to reality and I looked back towards the book. One of his fingers was pointing to a paragraph written in neat cursive. "I knew I heard saints from somewhere, and witches can't do anything in the physical world. In Greek Mythology, Saints aren't very well known, but here's the only part it's pointed." He cleared his throat before reading

When the day is done
And the night starts to roar
The shadows will return
To shake the world to it's core
Six saints will be chosen
To hold the power of the clouds
Under a one in 3000 chance
To melt the frozen
They will head east
Towards the rising sun there they will find
All they need to defeat the beast
And summon the sun once more.

I wrinkled my nose but didn't say anything, re-reading the text. Of course there was a bloody prophecy; why didn't I see it before? Note my sarcasm.

Six Saints - well, that was us. Me, Harlow, Lee, Gabriel, Ducky and Scarlett. The darkness was obviously some sort of evil so that wasn't too hard to understand - especially since Harlow and I literally killed a Minotaur. A one in three thousand chance could be the asteroid - it past happened 3000 years ago. To hold the powers of the clouds. That, I wasn't sure about.

Then it hit me - the Olympians lived in the clouds.

"Guys," I exploded, unable to keep my thoughts in my head.

"You got any ideas?" Gabriel said, running a hand through his hair.

"Yes!" Then the almighty rambling started. "Look where it says 'the powers of the clouds'; don't the Olympians live in the clouds?"

Scarlett narrowed her eyes. "Yeah?" She asked lightly, cocking her head to the side. I think she was just cautious around me because of our half drunk conversation in the bathroom. "Your point?"

I ignored her tone. "Well, What if we all received a gift from one of the Gods after the asteroid that gave us physical powers. For instance - I can use electricity, so wouldn't it make sense Zeus, God of Thunder, to be my God?" Their faces were unsure, so I continued. "Harlow, you obviously have some sort of super strength, and which of the Gods had the same..." I trailed off, clicking my fingers together.

"Ares- God of War." Lee interjected and I blinked at him gratefully.

"See!" I Said triumphantly. Harlow nodded, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"What about me?" Gabriel Asked. "I don't think any of the Gods have healing."

"Perhaps not-" Lee said, seemingly able to understand my logic. "But which of the Gods is associated with healing or helping others?"

"Aphrodite?" Ducky Asked. "Goddess of Love and Compassion?"

Lee shot him a finger gun. "Exactly."

I smiled and looked up at these friends I had known for about a week. Each one of them held a special place close to my heart and I didn't want to let that go.

"Well, What about the rest of us?" Scarlett sat up and crossed her arms indignantly, reminding me of a five year old pouting.

Harlow looked down at the book then back up. "What if you haven't found your powers yet? What are the rest of the most powerful or well known gods and goddesses?"

Gabriel ticked them off with his fingers. "Well there's Hades and Poseidon, as well as Athena."

I rubbed my forehead as it started to throb. "Why are there so many?" I whined, gaining a chuckle from Lee.

"It's not our fault." He mocked me with the same whiney voice I had put on. I shot him a glare.

"Here," Harlow leaned and grabbed her glass of water from the table beside her and passed it to Lee. "Try and move the water or something. If you do, then we know Poseidon is your God or something like that..."

Lee furrowed his eyebrows but took the cup from Harlow. He unsteadily stuck two fingers into the water and closed his eyes.

After a minute or two of us collectively holding out breath, I burst out laughing. Lee opened his eyes to slits and glared at me with his flashing, purple eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said, between fits of giggles. "It's just you don't know how silly you look right now."

Gabriel nodded and let himself a small chuckle. "Perhaps we can rule Poseidon from your power list."

Lee's lips perked upwards in a small smile and passed the water to Ducky, who immediately closed his eyes and stuck his fingers in the water. I tried not to laugh as his tongue peaked at the edge of his mouth and his forehead creased.

After a few minutes, Lee opened his mouth and reached towards Ducky, but suddenly the water exploded out of the cup and floated in the air like frozen raindrops.

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