<>------<>Arrow<>------<>

The sound of the door opening and shutting. A soft pair of feet moved past my bunk.

Nero thought he was being quite sneaky. He thinks a lot of things, most of which he is mistaken about.

I didn’t know if the others had any luck, but when it came to sleeping that night, my mind simply said, LOL! You thought you could sleep? Good joke. I hate my mind. Who knew?

Morning rolled around pretty fast. I wanted talk to Nero, find out where he went last night. Does he know something important that he’s not telling us?

‘Arrow!’ Midnight shook my shoulder. ‘Wake up!’

‘I was never asleep,’ I tugged the covers over my head. ‘Now go away!’

He sighed, ‘The others are here.’

I jerked the sheets off and sat up carefully not to bang my head on Destiny’s empty bunk, ‘What?’

‘The Sorrows are here,’ he repeated. ‘They got here nearly an hour ago. They’re waiting outside with Nero and Destiny.’

I yawned, ‘Where’s Aeras?’

Midnight smirked at me and stomped his foot on the ground, causing a mini earthquake in the ship. A dark mass tumbled out of the other bunk and hit the floor with a huge thump.

Aeras groaned, ‘Gods, Midnight. Because I so wanted to lose a few brain cells.’

Midnight scoffed and threw me my cloak which I caught with ease, ‘What brain cells? The Sorrows are here, so you better hurry. Destiny and Nero are waiting with them.’

He left with a dramatic turn and swish of his cloak. I locked eyes with Aeras and started laughing.

‘It’s not funny,’ he told me, barely able to keep a straight face himself.

‘Yes it is,’ I chuckled bluntly.

He rolled his eyes, ‘Come on, sis, we better hurry. Toss me my boots?’

‘Thanks for coming guys,’ Aeras said to the group. ‘We’re kind of in a bad state.’

The Sorrows stood dutifully to attention. Their translucent silvery whitish gold wings cast dainty patterns on the long grass and turned the hillside a strange rainbow of spectral colours. Fifteen sets of eyes that were easily recognizable as ones standard for children of the big three were fixed on my brother as he organized the group like the leader he was born to be.

‘Ewan and Aaron, Midnight is going to escort the two of you to Olympus. Ewan you’re to try and heal the gods.’

The twins saluted, identical electric blue eyes sparking like a lightning storm.

‘Eden,’ Aeras continued, beckoning the small girl forward. ‘I know it’s dangerous, but you need to see if you can glimpse the future just a bit.’

She shrugged, a tiny of movement of her shoulders, ‘I’ll try.’

‘Good,’ Areas pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Holly and Amber, I want you two guarding the borders of the camp. Nero told me there was monster attack last night. Neveah you can do that too, both of you.’

Neveah concentrated until a mirror image of herself appeared in front of her. Together, they said in sync, ‘We’re on it.’

‘Fabian, you’re going to be part of our communication, ‘Midnight put in. ‘You and Amber.’

Fabian nodded, ‘Where are the others going?’

‘Everyone who hasn’t been assigned a job will come with Aeras and I to the arena to train the campers,’ Destiny said. ‘They’re, um, not all that good.’

‘Actually, Corby,’ Aeras glanced around. ‘Where’s Corby?’

‘Here,’ the small girl pushed forward. ‘Sup?’

‘I want you to go down to the forge where they’re making weapons,’ Aeras instructed. ‘Your telekinesis could be of some use. Destiny’s going to summon some metals, you can take it.’

Corby nodded, ‘Yes sir.’

‘Remember masks, everybody,’ Destiny called, causing a collective groan and major annoyance. ‘They’re not that bad.’

‘Maybe for you,’ Charlie complained. ‘Because you don’t have to wear them.’

‘Yeah, you guys have your cloaks,’ Amber huffed.

‘They get in the way,’ I pointed out. ‘At least with the masks they don’t get in your way.’

There were some grumbles but each of them slipped a deckras mask on, indestructible elastic holding it in place. The masks had holes for their eyes, nose and mouth with the rest covered in silver metal that reflected any light and turned all their eyes a strange shade of slivery white, masking their real eye colours that might give them away.

‘Okay, everyone got everything?’ Aeras asked. ‘Weapons? Masks? Armour? Girls, hair up in standard ponytail?’

Corby raised her hand.

‘Girls, hair up in standard ponytail if possible?’ Aeras rephrased.

Corby lowered her hand with a giggle.

The Sorrows lined up like soldiers in an army, which they were. Aeras and Midnight walked up and down, checking each of them for proper dress and their weapons.

As standard army protocol, they did a roll call.

‘Fabian? Here. Eden? Here. Ewan? Here. Aaron? Where’s Aaron? There you are. Trace? There. Charlie? Thank you, Charlie. Willow? Here. Holly? Here. Kiralee? Hair up, Kiralee, especially with your long hair. Abraham? Here, thank you. Henry? Check. Amber. Yes, you’re here. Corby, of course. Autumn? Here. And Neveah. Awesome, we’re all set.’

‘Corby, I’ll show you where the forges are,’ Destiny said. ‘Then I’ll meet Aeras and the rest of you at the training arena. Amber, Holly and Neveah-uh, both of you-follow Arrow to the border.’

‘Eden,’ Aeras put in. ‘You’re going to stay here with Nero. Fabian, you can go wherever, but you’re a main source of our communication. We need your telepathy.’

Fabian nodded, ‘I know, Aeras.’

‘Great,’ Aeras breathed deep. ‘Okay, good luck everyone. Be back here by nightfall.’

I had to hand it to my brother; he was natural born leader. No offence to the others, especially Nero because he was a little more in charge than the rest of us, but Aeras knew how to step up. He was used to it and it came so naturally to him.

Everyone started heading their separate ways, to where they’d been directed to go. Uncomprehendingly, I stared after Midnight who spread his wings majestically as he lifted off towards Olympus, Ewan and Aaron by his side. It was until Amber tapped me on the shoulder that I realized I had somewhere to be too.

‘Hmm,’ I glanced at Amber, Neveah and Holly staring at me expectantly.

Neveah-both of her-rolled her eyes, ‘You’re supposed to take us to the border?’

I hit my head, ‘Oh, right. Duh!’

I headed for my pine tree.

Now, after ten thousand plus years of not being a tree, one might expect I was over it and just recognized it as an average tree. But not me. I’m stubborn that way. It was, and forever will be, my pine tree; Thalia’s pine tree.

I shook my head, Don’t think back to then.

Sometimes I wondered why Nero blocked out his past so much and was determined to leave the old him behind. But times like now I understood completely.

‘Where are we going?’ Holly asked tiredly.

She was never the best flier, even as a daughter of Zeus. I guess the whole “scared of heights” thing ran in the family. I had never really gotten over that, but rather had learned to control the fear. When you control your fear, you control your destiny. At least that’s what the twins told me. But then again, they are the twins.

‘My pine tree,’ my words got the stunned reaction I wanted out of them, the shock on their face sending me into hysterics. ‘It’s a long story, but I spent about five years as a tree when I was just a demigod.’

‘You were … a tree?’ Amber repeated, disbelief in her silver eyes.

‘Not just any tree,’ I pretended to scold. ‘A pine tree.’

‘Cause that’s a huge difference,’ Neveah mumbled, now back as one person to save confusion.

‘Exactly,’ I smirked, ignoring the sarcastic jibe. ‘Anyway, we’re headed there because that’s where the centre of the protective magic is. I’m hoping to find out what let the monster in last night.’

‘The one that attacked Nero?’ Amber asked.

I don’t know why, but I stiffened, ‘Yes. Why?’

‘No reason,’ Amber said. ‘But Nero told me that there would be four people waiting for us.’

‘Okay, did he saw who?’

‘Probably,’ Amber shrugged. ‘You expect me to remember? I’m just as ADHD as you are.’

I sighed, ‘Doesn’t matter. I have an idea on who they’ll be.’

When we touched down at my tree, my suspicions were confirmed as Piper, Calypso, Leo and Frank came to greet us, identical sad smiles replicated on each face.

‘Arrow,’ Piper greeted. ‘I thought Nero was coming?’

‘Nero is preoccupied with other duties,’ I said. ‘But I was sent instead. These are my sisters, Neveah, Holly and Amber.’

The three angels shook hands with the four demigods. Calypso, Piper, Leo and Frank looked so relaxed and reserved, I was almost certain they’d run into Nero the night before. Something had happened to my brother last night, something that stirred up old memories and feelings inside him. He looked tired and confused, like he’d slept worse than I had.

‘We were coming to check on the border protection,’ I explained to the four.

Instantly, their polite expressions dropped to ones of immense fear and horror.

‘It was there yesterday,’ Piper stuttered nervously. ‘Every day, for the last ten thousand years. And it disappeared last night!’

‘What did?’ Neveah asked.

‘The golden fleece,’ Leo replied, the hem of his shirt catching alight as he tugged on it. ‘It’s kept camp safe for thousands of years with its magic. But it’s not there; someone stole it!’

‘You said it was there yesterday?’ Holly asked Piper who nodded.

‘I was up here yesterday,’ Piper explained. ‘We all were. It’s a beautiful place to watch the sunset. And we get along well with the guard dragon. But when we came to meet Nero this morning, it was gone! Along with Peleus!’

I tried to run everything trough my head, ‘So the fleece was there yesterday, and when you got here it and the dragon who guards the tree was gone?’

They nodded, matching looks of worry adorning their faces. Calypso tugged on her braid, kind of like a nervous habit. Frank accidently changed into a python and back again without really noticing.

Neveah nudged me, ‘Really could’ve used Fabian, huh?’

‘Not now, Neveah,’ I hissed. ‘Amber, could you bounce over to Nero and let him know.’

‘On it, Arrow,’ the brunette girl nodded and disappeared. There was no transition, just one second she was there and the next she wasn’t.

‘Gods,’ I pinched the bridge of my nose, causing a small spike of pain that helped me focus.

‘Where did she go?’ Calypso shouted. ‘She was there, but-’

‘All of us have a power,’ I said bluntly. ‘Mine is fire. Only I, Nero, Aeras, Midnight and Destiny have power over the elements. The rest have smaller powers.’

‘They’re the lucky ones,’ Holly grumbled.

‘What powers do you two have?’ Leo asked even as he pulled a clump of wires and bolts from his ever present tool belt and began to construct something without paying any attention at all.

I didn’t need to see their faces to know that Holly and Neveah were grinning like crazy mad men who’d just been given a shiny chainsaw for Christmas, complete with a red bow.

Holly disappeared and reappeared behind Leo, a blur and smoky wisps trailing behind her. Neveah concentrated until the demigods were seeing double as two of her waved at them cheerily. The look on Frank’s face was enough to make me think he was going to pass out.

I just rolled my eyes, ‘Since they’re showing off. Holly has super speed and Neveah has the power of self duplication. Handy when you want to keep an eye on things. Amber who just left can teleport. She likes to call it bouncing.’

‘Bouncing,’ Piper repeated faintly.

‘Yeah,’ I was itching to lower my hood, just to let the warm sunlight spread across my face.

Amber suddenly bounced back, reappearing by Leo, leaning on his shoulder in an all too casual gesture.

Leo spat out a rainbow of language in several different tongues as he jumped a foot in the air and threw whatever he was crafting high into the air.

‘Hi,’ Amber said.

‘Holy Hephaestus,’ Leo panted, clutching his heart. ‘Don’t do that again.’

I restrained a laugh as Amber winked with the strange whitish eyes the silver masks gave them, ‘No promises.’

‘What do you have to report, Amber?’ I cut in before Leo could retort.

‘Nero has been informed about the fleece,’ she conveyed formally, turning to me and completely blocking out Leo who stuttered as Calypso wound her arm around his waist. ‘Fabian will be in touch if Eden finds anything. Also, is everything okay with Nero? He seems kind of tired and, well, really sad.’

‘Everything’s fine,’ I said firmly, effectively ending the conversation. The Sorrows didn’t know the truth about our past here, and especially didn’t know about Nero’s difficultly in returning. ‘He’s just stressed out like the rest of us. Mustn’t have slept well last night.’

A half-truth. I knew Nero had been out last night, and if the way Piper, Calypso, Leo and Frank glanced at each other from underneath their eyelashes was any indication, I was right about him meeting them too.

Amber held her hands up in defence, ‘Just saying. A report is things you notice. I noticed he look really down and tired.’

‘Moving on from Nero,’ I said pointedly through gritted teeth. ‘The fleece is missing and the rest of the camp needs to be notified. You guys,’ I motioned at the demigods, ‘should tell Annabeth, Reyna and Chiron. Amber, bounce back to Nero and tell him to meet me at the arena with Aeras and Destiny.’

‘Back and forth, and back and forth,’ Amber complained, vanishing in a heartbeat.

‘Holly,’ I continued. ‘Find Trace. The two of you circle the perimeter of camp. Notify me on anything out of the ordinary and don’t miss a thing!’ The last few words were spoken to a kicked up trail of dust. ‘And that just leaves you and me, Neveah. Well, both of you.’

‘Could you, just-’ Piper brought her hands together in an awkward fist clench motion. The point came across to me though.

‘Neveah, merge and lets go,’ I commanded. The pale girl sighed but stepped back into one body. ‘Now, let’s go.’

I took off into the sky, riding against the suddenly stronger winds.

‘Whoa,’ Neveah spun in a circle as the breeze blew her around. ‘Aeras in a bad mood today?’

I rolled my eyes, ‘Who ever knows what mood he’s in? Come on, the arena is this way. Nero might be there.’

Leaving the demigods to slowly work their way down Half-Blood Hill on foot, Neveah and I fought against the wind currents, struggling as the gales blew harder.

‘Really bad mood, apparently!’ I yelled over the roar.

‘You don’t say?’ Neveah shouted back.

‘Drop!’ I tucked my silver wings around me and fell like a stone.

‘What?’

By the time Neveah caught up to what I’d said, I was already half way to the ground. She followed my example, hugging her shorter, eccentric wings to her body as she sailed through the sky. The lower the altitude, the less the storm seemed to rage. When we finally reached the safety of the earth, no breath of air was to be felt.

The sharp clang of metal smashing against metal ring in the air, over and over. As did the sound of consistent cheering and applause.

‘What has he done now?’ I grumbled.

We settled for running, distrusting the winds while Aeras was apparently having a temper tantrum. The closer we came to the arena, the louder the sounds became. I stopped dead in the entrance and stared, ‘Oh gods.’

Destiny and Aeras circled each other, their stances playful but serious. Their alternative white and gold wings beat the air restlessly as they willed to take flight. Identical silver deckras swords pointed at each other’s chests.

Neveah crossed her arms and leant against the wall, amusement sparking in her dark eyes, ‘Let’s see how this plays out.’

‘Five gold chips says it won’t end well,’ I nudged her.

She laughed and shook her head, ‘Ten gold chips says you won’t be able to resist jumping in to join the fight.

‘As if,’ I retorted. ‘You’re on.’

‘You would never be able to resist taunting them at the very least,’ Neveah said.

An immediate comeback popped into my mind, but I thought thoroughly before I responded, ‘I can’t argue with that.’

Neveah threw her head back and laughed. A few people glanced her way, but most were fixated on the fight as Aeras and Destiny continued their dangerous dance, waiting for the first strike.

‘GO!’ I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I didn’t expect it to work, but it did. Aeras rose into the air and bore down on Destiny in a split second, throwing his sword down in a mighty thrust. Destiny was prepared. She raised her owns sword and blocked the strike, responding quickly with one of her own and nicking Aeras on the cheek beneath his hood.

‘Careful, Destiny,’ the laughter in his voice mingled with caution.

‘You’re the one who said no rules,’ Destiny threw back, pushing into another charge.

Aeras blocked each strike, but was unable to get one of his own in, constantly on guard. Destiny allowed him to back up a bit and he took the opportunity. Buffeting his wings and sucking in a deep breath, he blew a wind in her direction and sent her tumbling across the arena and slamming into the stands.

The campers cheered and roared their approval.

‘Careful, Aeras,’ Destiny said as she adjusted her hood and tried to stand.

‘You’re the one who said no rules,’ Aeras imitated in a bad impression of his sister.

‘Hey!’ Destiny yelled.

Aeras ran forward with his sword raised. Destiny thrust her hands out in front of her, pushing against him. His feet suddenly slowed almost to the point of stopping and I applauded Destiny’s use of time.

‘What was that for?’ Aeras called.

‘No rules!’ she replied with an eye roll, using the edge of the arena wall to push herself up. ‘Honestly, Aeras, maybe you do have the mind of the winds; completely scatterbrained.’

The campers roared with laughter as Aeras’ grip on his sword tightened.

‘You’re gonna get it, Destiny.’

‘Bring it, Aeras.’

Their swords met in a flurry of silver sparks, darting in all directions as their blades flashed again and again. Neither seemed to have the upper hand, both being pressing back and pressing the other back. At one point, Destiny froze the beat of Aeras’ wings. Aeras responded by blowing Destiny off course and releasing her concentration.

‘Wait for it,’ Neveah muttered to herself.

Groaning, I reached into my pocket beneath my adorned silver armour and quickly counted out ten little gold chips, passing them to Neveah who grinned.

‘Thank you,’ she said sweetly.

‘Oh, shut up,’ I grumbled.

Neveah laughed, ‘Such sisterly love.’

Shaking my head, I jumped right into the battle, shooting a ball of fire straight at Aeras’ feet. He jumped back with a yelp and locked his gaze on me.

‘Arrow!’ he protested.

I grinned at him, though he probably couldn’t tell, ‘You’re the one who said no rules.’

‘Oh, you really are a-’

‘Incoming!’

Aeras jumped aside with a very unmanly scream as I hurtled another fireball after him. He was forced to stay on his toes, literally, as fireball after fireball chased him around the arena. Destiny cracked like an egg, falling to her knees in laughter.

Aeras growled, blowing on the next fireball headed his way. It instantly dissipated as the temperature in the arena dropped and an icy wind swept in. I rolled my eyes and shot a stream of flames into the sky, raising the temperature again.

‘Girls VS boys?’ I suggested. ‘No powers?’

‘Bring it,’ Aeras laughed.

‘You get ‘em, Aeras!’ I heard Abraham and Charlie yelling from the crowds.

‘Kick his butt, girls!’ Willow and Kiralee countered loudly.

I laughed. This was going to be fun. Destiny and I launched out attacks in sync, our swords flashing forward towards Aeras’ chest. He raised his own blade just in time to block both strikes and send us flying backwards.

I sprung up immediately as Destiny struggled to her feet and dropped her sword, exchanging it for a dagger and going in for a close attack. I slipped my bow of my shoulders and knocked an arrow, aiming for a chink just above Aeras’ right knee.

I’m not named Arrow for nothing. My shot hit home and my brother stumbled, groaning. Destiny gave me an air high five and I grinned. Aeras slowly pulled the arrow out and switched all his weight to his left side. His left side was his weaker side, which gave us the upper hand.

‘Come on, Aeras!’ a camper cheered.

‘Go Destiny!’ yelled another.

‘Kick butt, Arrow!’ a third shouted.

By this stage I was well feeling the exhilaration that came with a battle, especially if it was with my siblings. From the corner of my eye, I could see Neveah jumping up and down on the spot, her curly black hair bouncing up and down behind her as she clapped and laughed along with the crowd.

‘Give up, Arrow,’ Aeras shouted. His teeth were gritted in pain but he managed a laugh.

‘Not a chance!’ I yelled back cheekily.

‘What are you doing?’

Trust Midnight to ruin our fun. My black winged brother swopped down into the middle of the arena separating Aeras from Destiny and I. Ewan and Aaron were by his side, but while Midnight placed his on his hips and seemingly glowered at us, the twins had trouble containing their laughter.

‘Um, training?’ Destiny tried.

Midnight sighed, ‘You were supposed to train the campers, not beat each other up.’

‘Calm down, ‘night,’ I shook my head. ‘It’s just as spot of fun.’

‘Yeah, real fun,’ he said sarcastically, examining Aeras’ knee.

‘Everything was fine,’ Aeras insisted. ‘We were demonstrating for the campers.’

‘Demonstration over,’ Midnight ordered. ‘All campers, grab your weapons. Aeras and I will continue your training.’

While the demigods groaned and straggled into the arena, Midnight dragged Aeras, Destiny and I to one side. Midnight passed Aeras a square of ambrosia he’d obviously picked up from Olympus, and Aeras ate it gratefully.

‘Destiny, Arrow, you both need to see Nero,’ Midnight said quietly. ‘Fabian just messaged me. They might’ve had a break through. Take Aaron and Ewan, they can tell you what happened on Olympus.’

Aeras huffed as he turned to instruct the campers, ‘The girls get to have all the fun.’

‘Arrow,’ Midnight grabbed my upper arm as I made to turn away and follow Destiny out of the arena. ‘Warn Nero, I don’t think this is over.’

‘Don’t think what’s over?’ I whispered urgently.

‘The prophecy,’ he said. ‘The lines haven’t been fulfilled and I’m scared I know what they might mean. We already know Nero will have to return to Tartarus.’

‘Shh,’ I glanced around. ‘Speak a bit louder, I don’t think they heard you in China.’

‘Now’s not the time for joking around,’ Midnight hissed. ‘Just go. Destiny’s waiting.’

‘Nero?’ I called.

The WG was unusually quiet. I crept in first with Destiny on my tail and Aaron and Ewan following close behind. It was a strange feeling, creeping around in my own ship, but something was amiss, I could feel it.

‘Nero?’ I said again.

Footsteps echoed just around the corner. Without waiting, Destiny slipped a dagger from her boot, Ewan and Aaron drew their twin blades and I notched an arrow, directing it at the intruder.

Fabian stared, horror struck at our weapons, ‘What are they for?’

‘Uh, sorry,’ I muttered awkwardly. ‘Just a little edgy.’

‘I just came to tell you to be quiet,’ Fabian replied, a little shaken. ‘Eden’s still concentrating. Nero’s helping her. Come on.’

We followed Fabian into the back cabin where Nero sat sideways on the single bed, staring at Eden who sat in meditation position. Her eyes were closed and her breathing shallow almost to the point of not being there.

‘Ewan, Aaron,’ Nero said quietly. ‘Tell me what happened on Olympus.’

‘Nice to see you too,’ I grumbled to Nero who ignored me.

The twins quickly explained about the gods, and how Ewan tried to heal them but failed. They seemed to have got slightly better for a few moments, but there were no improvements. The whole time, Nero said nothing and Eden continued in her trace like state.

‘Amber told you about the fleece?’ I asked.

Nero nodded and looked about to respond until Eden gasped, her ocean eyes flashing open in a short burst of light.

‘Eden?’ Nero grabbed her shoulders. ‘Eden, are you okay?’

The small girl nodded wearily, but it was clear what she had glimpsed was terrifying. Her hands shook as she placed them together in her lap.

I glanced at Destiny, then back at Eden, ‘What is it? What did you see?’

The angel locked eyes with her brother, sea green staring straight into sea green.

‘Something huge is coming, Nero. Don’t try to play the hero. Sometimes you have to let others take the fall. You’ll know when the time arises, but the worst is yet to come.’

~*~

My biggest chapter yet, I think. Over 4200 words, and 15 pages on word!! I feel accomplished in life *faints, then wakes up to finish the AN* Okay, not much to say. Updates might come every second week for a while until I can get on top of my school work. This chapters dedication goes to FanOfTheWrittenArt for the wonderful comment I read. I am also going to have to enforce an old rule, no dedication goes to someone twice in a row. This is because of an unnamed individual (looking at you Think_inspiration) and her comments that always warm me up and brighten my day. But I recieved SO many wonderful comments, it's always so hard to pick. Thank you SO much to everyone and please remember to vote, comment and follow! And sue Writers Block with me!!
~TripleM

I'm Sane!! Mostly ...