2841 words

Honorable mention: @L-LADY_A-ART3M1S-S
Thank you so much for providing the chapter name!

Not gonna lie, jumping off of a moving train hurts. A lot. As soon I hit the forest floor, I felt my ribs break.

Ow, I thought. That hurt quite a lot. Brain, why did we do this?

Because you're dumbass, My brain answered.

Fair enough, I thought back.

"Are you done having a conversation with your non-existent brain?" Aidan asked, bouncing up next to me.

I did the only sensible thing you should do to respond to this. I shoved him into a tree.

"What the Hades!" He yelled.

I smirked.

"Ainsley," Dad said sternly, but the corners of his mouth were twitching. "We've talked about this. No shoving your brother into a tree unless he makes a bad joke or he makes us run out of cucumbers."

I laughed.

Zoë rolled her eyes. "You're truly one of a kind, Orion Theron."

"Thank you!" Dad said, smiling widely.

I don't think that was a compliment, Pher said.

We know that, Captain Obvious, Agro said.

Shut up! Or I'll shove you into a tree! Pher replied.

"That's enough, guys," I said, though I found it quite amusing. Pher and Agro had these argument thingies at least once a day.

We continued to bounce down the long slope we were on for about 20 minutes, until we came to a road. We did have to wait for Aidan though, who was carried down the hill by the very irritated tree nymph he had crashed into. She dropped him onto the road and left, but not before making a rude hand gesture at Aidan. He yelled some very nasty words after her.

"Aidan!" Dad said sharply. "I've taught you better than that!"

"Have you?" Aidan asked.

Dad ignored this and said, "Who needs healing?"

We all did. Raiden had broken both her legs and one arm, Zoë had broken all her ribs and gotten a minor concussion, Snow had her face all bloodied and a broken leg, Pher had torn both ears and broken his neck, Agro had broken both back legs and her tail, Aidan had a concussion and a broken arm, Dad had broken his nose and both feet, and I had all my ribs broken and had my shin bone sticking out of my leg. Raiden nearly fainted when she saw this.

When we were all healed up, Dad collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

"Any idea how we're gonna get to the Children's Museum?" Raiden asked.

"I do," Dad muttered, almost asleep. "I already arranged transport."

"Oh, please don't tell me it's the Gray Sisters," I said.

Yep, it was the Gray Sisters.

Dad staggered to his feet with the help of Snow and Zoë.

"Stêthi 'Ô hárma diabolês!" Dad yelled, tossing a golden Drachma on the road.

"Back up!" Zoë yelled.

"Why?" I asked, but my answer came almost at once.

A taxi came zooming out of nowhere, stopping dead in front of us. It looked to be woven go smoke. Raiden jumped back, fell into Aidan, and they toppled over like dominoes.

I laughed.

"Shut up!" Aidan yelled.

Oh, lighten up!  Pher said.

"Alright!" Dad said. "Everyone into the taxi!"

I and Agro clambered into the taxi, Aidan and Pher came next, Dad and Snow came after them, then Raiden, and finally, Zoë. As soon as he sat down, Dad passed out cold and started snoring. Like on the train, all the wolves sat at their human's feet.

"What the Hades is up with these seat belts?!" Raiden said.

"What do you mean?" Aidan asked.

"See for yourself," Raiden said.

I glanced down at mine and received a shock. The seatbelts weren't made of the normal material. They were literally black chains. The seats were normal, though lumpy, cracked, and very uncomfortable. The taxi zoomed forward so fast, I almost got whip lash.

"Ow!" Raiden yelled, as her head bounced hard off the seat.

The drivers turned around, and I nearly fainted. They had each a mop of grizzled hair covering their eyes, bony hands, and were each wearing a charcoal-colored sackcloth dress. Instead of eyes, they had closed, sunken lids. One of them was wearing the eye they shared, which was bloodshot and green.

One of the others had the single tooth they share, which was a mossy, yellow incisor. The third one had absolutely nothing, and she looked as though she was having an existential crisis. I have one at least twice a day.

The one with the eye stared at me hungrily, as though her eye couldn't get enough of everything it saw. Looking directly into the eye was a) making me want to vomit and b) making me very uncomfortable.

Just a note of clarification here Eyeball Lady is Anger, Nothing Lady is Tempest, and Tooth Lady is Wasp.

"You are worried, Moon Child," Eyeball Lady said. Her voice was weird an mumbling, like she'd just had a shot of Novocain. It made me even more uncomfortable.

"No, I'm not," I said defiantly, knowing full well that was a lie. I was worried. Extremely worried.

"Also, my name is not 'Eyeball Lady," Eyeball Lady said irritably. "My name is Wasp."

"No, I'm Wasp!" Nothing Lady said. "You're Tempest!"

"You're both wrong!" Tooth Lady said, pointing at Nothing Lady. "You're Tempest! I'm Wasp! You're Anger! Give the eye!"

Tooth Lady wrenched the eye from Eyeball Lady and caused the taxi to swerve to the right very sharply.

"Hey!" Anger yelled. "I need that! I'm driving! Give it back!"

"No, give it to me!" Wasp yelled. "I want it!"

"No!" Tempest yelled. "I want it!"

They were so caught up in bickering over the tooth and eye and trying to grab them from each other that no one was driving, causing the taxi to swerve all over the road. Several drivers had to swerve out of the way and made very rude hand gestures at us.

"Yo!" Raiden yelled. "Someone needs to drive!"

"Oh!" Wasp said. "Right!"

She seized the wheel and yanked it to the right, causing Aidan to fall into me.

5 minutes later, we arrived at the Children's Museum. We were all glad to get. Raiden and Zoë were green and looked like they were about to vomit. I didn't feel great, either. Dad had woken up and was looking like that Power Nap had been very helpful. He was walking on his own, at least.

We walked through the front doors and down the ramp into the giant entrance hall. There was a giant statue of the transformer Bumble Bee.

"That's very yellow," Aidan said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Raiden and I said together.

Aidan rolled his eyes and turned to Dad. "Why would Apollo be here?"

Dad shrugged. "I don't know, kid. Apollo is a god. They do weird stuff all the time."

Aidan shuddered. "Don't remind me."

"One word," I said. "Zeus."

We all laughed. It felt nice to laugh after all the trouble we'd been through in the last few days. We walked up to the ticket booth, and Dad started talking to the woman running it.

"How can I help you?" the woman asked kindly, smiling at us.

"5 tickets please," Dad said, smiling back the woman. "And 5 tickets to the Greek Mythology Exhibit."

"I'm sorry, but there are no dogs allowed in the museum," the woman said, glancing down at Snow, Pher, and Agro.

Dad frowned and looked as though he was doing some hard thinking. Strangely, the woman's face glazed over as though she'd just had her memory wiped.

"The tickets will cost $120 in total," the woman said. "Cash or card?"

"Card," Dad said, pulling out his credit card out and swiping it through the credit card thingie.

The woman handed us our tickets and an info packet, and we walked into the museum.

"Where would Apollo's lyre be, do you think?" Raiden asked.

"Probably in the Greek Mythology Exhibit," Dad said, showing us the info packet.

It had a picture of a statue of Zeus on it with a bunch info beneath it.

"Or the hot ladies exhibit," I said, snickering.

Raidan and Aidan burst out laughing. Zoë smiled.

We walked up the ramp to the Greek Mythology Exhibit. There was a long line that we had to wait in.

Dad frowned and looked like he was thinking hard or constipated. I thought it was the first option.

"Walk to the front of the line," Dad said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Just do it," Dad said. "I'll explain in a minute."

We walked to the front of the line, and I expected someone to say something, but no one said anything.

When we got to the front of the line, the woman manning the entrance smiled at us. "Come in! May I see your tickets please?"

Dad showed us her tickets, she took them and unclipped the rope, and still smiling, stepped out of the way to let us through.

"Spread out," Dad said. "Look for the lyre. Aidan, Ainsley, Raiden go left. Pher, Agro go with them. Snow, Zoë, you're with me. Go!"

"I don't want to be with her," Aidan snarled, pointing at me.

"Aidan, what the Hades?!" I said, taken aback. "What have I done to you?!"

Aidan sneered. "Why should I tell you?"

Okay, now I was getting angry.

"I don't what your problem is," I said, anger coursing though me. "But I've done nothing to you. Except make you laugh and loved you as my twin. But you're not yourself anymore. Goodbye, Aidan."

And with that, I stormed off.

What was that?! Agro said.

"I don't know," I said. "Something's wrong with him. And not in the way as him being a nutcase. Like, actually he's changed. And not for the better."

Yes, Agro said. I've noticed that too. He seems to be distancing himself  from you and your father.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Ainsley, you know what I mean, Agro said, sighing as much as a wolf can sigh.

"No, I don't," I said, starting to feel angry again. "You don't know what you're talking about, Agro."

Agro stepped in front of me, got up on her two hind legs, and placed both her paws on my shoulders.

Listen, Agro said. I know you're hurting. I can tell. But I'm here for you. Artemis sent me here to protect you and serve as your companion. I've been alive for 4,000 years. I know a lot of things. Tell me what's wrong. I can help you.

I smiled. "Thanks, Agro. I needed that."

Agro off my shoulders and back onto the ground. I know. Now, let's keep looking for Sun Boi's lyre.

I burst out laughing. "Sun Boi?! That's a good one!"

There's also Limerick Loser, Poetry Pest, Agro said. Oh! And Iambic Idiot.

At this point, I was ROTFL. And people were starting to stare. Just then, a scream rent the air. A very high-pitched, girlish scream.

"Aidan!" I yelled, running toward the sound.

The scene was not a pretty one. Aidan lay on the ground, with his leg red and smoking, with Pher standing guard in front of him. Pher was the size of a cart horse and was snarling and growling at the creature that Raiden, Zoë, Dad, and Snow were fighting.

It had was a huge and scaly lizard-like monster with nine heads, and each of its heads was diamond-shaped. Each of its mouths were full of razor-sharp teeth.

Zoë was shooting arrows at it, bobbing an weaving between its heads. Snow and a lion were dragging it backward by the tai.

"A lion?!" I said incredulously. "What's a lion doing here?!"

The lion roared. It's me, kiddo! Dad!

"Dad?!" I said incredulous once again. "Why are you a lion?!"

I can shapeshift, kid! Dad replied. It's easier to keep hold of a hydra as a lion than as a human!

Raiden ran toward the hydra, swinging her scythe wildly. "Take this!"

She swung at the hydra's head, and I realized what she was going to do.

"Raiden! No!" I yelled.

But too late. Raiden had cut off the head.

"Yes!" She yelled.

I looked toward the hydra. Blood was pouring from its severed head, but suddenly it stopped. Its head swelled like a balloon. The severed neck then split in two, and turned into two new heads.

"No!" I yelled. "Raiden watch out!"

Raiden dived to one side just in time. Acid came flying out of the hydras' mouth, hitting and burning a hole in the floor where Raiden had just been a moment before.

"How do we kill this thing?!" Raiden yelled, dodging another spurt of acid and poking her scythe into the eye of one head of the hydra.

"Remember what Heracles did?" I yelled back.

"Yeah!" Raiden yelled. "After he cut off the head, his nephew, Iolaus, burned the stumps, so they couldn't grow new heads! He buried the immortal head under a bunch of rock!"

"So that's what we'll do!" I yelled, ducking as a spurt of acid came my way. "You cut off the head, I'll burn the stump!"

"Okay!" Raiden yelled.

"Now!" I yelled, running toward the double head.

Raiden swung her scythe and cut off both the heads in one swipe. I summoned fire and shot it into the stumps. The skin was charred and burned where the fire met it, but it didn't reform.

We continued doing this: Raiden swinging and decapitating the heads; me shooting fire out of my hands and burning the stumps. On the other side of the head, Dad, Zoë, and Snow worked together.  Zoë would slash off the heads with her daggers, while Snow would rip the heads off, while Dad would burn the stumps (He had turned back into a human).

This was hard, mind you. We had to do all this while dodging the acid spurting from the hydra's many heads. There were near misses. My sleeve and Snow's fur got singed by being grazed by the acid. Finally, there was only the immortal head left.

"Back up!" Dad bellowed, running full speed at the wall.

He turned into an elephant at the last minute and slammed into the wall with all 15,000 pounds of elephant. The wall instantly collapsed, and the ceiling caved in.

"Run!" Raiden yelled.

We didn't telling twice. Pher grabbed Aidan by the shirt and dragged him out of the room, while Elephant-Dad grabbed Zoë with his trunk and lumbered and stopped at my side.

Get on! He trumpeted.

"I'll be fine!" I yelled. "Go!"

He hesitated.

"Go!" I yelled urgently.

The ceiling was almost collapsed onto us. Dad lumbered from the, destroying the doorway as he went through.

I hopped onto Agro, who was in giant carthorse form.

"Get on!" I yelled.

No time! Agro yelled, grabbing Raiden by the shirt and dragging her along with us as we ran through the room.

I looked back. The ceiling had collapsed onto the hydra, and then I saw a glimmer of gold.

"The lyre!" I yelled, jumping off Agro right at the doorway.

Ainsley! No! Agro barked.

But too late. I already had jumped off. Agro tried to follow me, but Raiden grabbed her around the middle and held her back, just as the doorway caved in.

I looked around quickly for the lyre. It was sitting by an exhibit in the corner about Apollo.

Big surprise, I thought. Apollo's lyre is by the exhibit about Apollo. His ego is about as big as Mount Rushmore.

I ran towards the lyre, snatched it up, and stopped, wondering how I was gonna get back through.

Crack!

I looked up in time to see a huge piece of ceiling coming down right over my head.

"No!" I yelled. "I won't die today! Take a hike, Thanatos!"

Uh, Mom, I prayed. I know you're busy and all, being a badass and whatnot. But can you help please? Also, give Apollo a pin. He needs to deflate his ego!

My hands jerked up of their own accord and suddenly the ceiling stopped. It was like a forcefield had appeared around me. With some newfound power, I threw the piece of ceiling aside, picked up the lyre, which I had dropped, and walked toward the collapsed doorway. With my power, I forced a hole into doorway and was almost trampled by an elephant.

Dad was apparently trying force the door open by crashing through it to rescue me.

As soon as he saw me, he turned back into a man and said, "Kid! Thank, Artemis!"

"Woah," Aidan and Raiden said together.

"What?" I asked

"You're glowing," Aidan said in awe.

"What?" I said, looking down.

And so I was. A silvery glow was emanating from my body. I was literally glowing with power.

"Well," I said. "That's very cool and all. But, if you'll excuse me, I'm quite tired."

And then I fainted.