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Kassidy
We were only there for a ship... When is it ever that simple?
The plan on our side of things is simple enough. We are supposed to travel by land to a shoreline base. From there, we will take one of the fastest ships in the Olympus fleet to England. Then we’ll meet up with the other half of our team, and it will be just a small stretch to Stonehenge.
So far, there hasn’t been any resistance. I’ve been staring out the truck’s window for the past few hours. Kale is sitting next to me looking over a map of the region around Stonehenge.
Kale groans, “I just don’t get it.”
“Get what?” I ask quietly.
“Why Stonehenge? What is there? There isn’t anything Olympus related based on my maps. No old base, research station, etcetera. What could it be?” He asks annoyed.
“Maybe it’s not one of ours. Maybe the enemy has something there?” I speculate.
He narrows his eyes, “Hmmmm... That is possible, but we have a lot of bases in England. It would be strange for us to not know about it by now. Also, there are all of those weird wind problems that have been going on around there the past few years.”
I remember what he’s talking about. One city in Britain was completely demolished by a hurricane earlier this year. That wasn’t the only one that went through either.
“Do you think the wind has something to do with those places of power they talked about in our first meeting?” I ask.
“Huh? Nah, I didn’t even think about that. It is odd though. One of our battles was partially to blame for the recent hurricane but not fully. It was only a small skirmish compared to some other war zones.”
I guess we’ll see when we get there. We’re actually driving up to the base as we speak, but we still have a way to go before we have any actual fighting. This base is called “The Water’s Fury” which is a pretty appropriate name. It has a large harbor. I think this is where construction on the majority of the Olympus fleet happens, so it is a big deal.
Our driver stops after passing into the base. On the other side of the wall is a woman with flowing blue hair. She has two officers and a kid with her. A few months ago, I would have told you that natural blue hair is impossible, but with all I’ve seen now? Who knows? It definitely looks real.
Our van is inspected by the two officers who are armed with swords and guns. Interesting, I don’t usually see demigods carrying guns since they don’t really work on demons. Sometimes I forget that we are fighting other demigods too. Brainwashed or not, the thought makes me hurt.
The guards seemed satisfied with the search, so we are allowed out. The kid standing next to the blue haired woman does a sort of half salute but doesn’t seem interested in our arrival. The blue haired woman holds out her hand, and I shake it.
The woman says politely, “Greetings, Kassidy and Kale. I’m General Mavis, but Mavis is fine. I don’t really enforce formalities here. The young man next to me is Ritz. He’s my second in command.”
Kale coughs, “This kid is your second? I know generals are allowed to appoint whoever they want, but usually they have some experience to them.”
Ritz’s eyes narrow, but Mavis puts her hand on his head, “I assure you he is very capable. There is no one at this base I trust more. If put to the test, I have no doubt that even you would have some trouble against him.”
Ritz doesn’t say anything. He just shrugs and runs off towards the harbor. The kid is fast though. I think he would put track runners to shame.
“Wait a minute. Is he a child of Hermes?” Kale asks.
Mavis answers, “I can see why you think that but not quite. Ritz is a special boy. His mother was a daughter of Hermes, but his father was a son of Zeus. In cases like that, the child either gets one power, sometimes neither, or worse. He has awakened powers of both Zeus and Hermes.”
“Did you use his parents in the past tense?” I ask her.
She nods sadly, “I did. The poor child’s parents were killed. Well, I say killed, but it was more like torture. Ritz and his parents were being held captive at one of Lilith’s research labs. There...wasn’t much left of them by the time we rescued him.”
I look back towards the boy who now seems to be giving orders to the other soldiers. There is so much in life he won’t get to experience now. I thought we had it rough when we were pulled out of our ordinary lives, but to think of what he had to experience...
Mavis places her hand on my shoulder and smiles, “Come. Let us go to my office while we wait on your ship to be ready to depart. We’re actually waiting on it to return from a quick job.”
Mavis leads us into the tallest building at the base. She begins to explain to us all of what this base is used for. It isn’t just for building the fleet, but also a supplier of most of the army’s seafood. Apparently, their supply actually accounts for twenty percent of all of the army’s food that isn’t within Olympus.
Kale scoffs, “Ugh. Why are there so many cracks with weeds growing in them?” He pulls out a rather long plant. It had been growing right outside of Mavis’s office.
Mavis looks perplexed, “I’m not sure. We’ve been having that problem a lot the past week. It’s become something of a nuisance. That’s actually the mission your boat is coming back from. I’ve sent them to gather loads of weed killer from down south but no worries. I expect them back within the hour.”
“There are even some inside of your office. This is ridiculous. I hate plants. It reminds me of that freak demon Syphos.” Kale grunts.
While my team didn’t fight Syphos ourselves, we did fight what was left of him. Kale’s team had already taken the demon down but suffered losses along the way. They lost Trevor, who was Kale’s strategist. We saw his spirit while passing through the deeper parts of Hell. I don’t think I’ll ever forget his screams as he pleaded for us to come back to save him, but there was nothing we could do...
My body runs cold, “That’s not true. Luke could have saved him. That same key that helped you escape Olympus? If Luke would have saved its power, Trevor could still be with Kale today.” That red orb Apollo gave me is invading my thoughts again. Is it telling me the truth, or is this another of its tricks?
It doesn’t matter. Luke didn’t know Trevor was going to die. There is no way he could have. Besides, that wouldn’t change the fact that Trevor would still be dead. It would only be his spirit.
The orb laughs hysterically in my thoughts, “Spirit or not, he wouldn’t be much different. In fact, he would become even more powerful. Not that it matters, he would still belong to Lucifer after all.”
Kale nudges my arm, and I jump, “Kassidy? Did you hear any of that?”
“I...uh...no. No, I didn’t. I’m sorry. I was lost in thought.” I say. When did we all sit down? I don’t remember even stepping into her office. Is this the kind of stuff Luke had to deal with?
Mavis is sitting behind her desk while looking at me with concern, “We were just discussing how the battalion on the ship will be at your disposal. I will lend them to you to hopefully make your mission easier. Also, the ship will actually be sailing around into London. Your allies have reported that the enemy is along the western shores of England, so going around to meet up with them is the best course of acti-”
A loud rumble comes from outside and with it, a voice that seems to encompass the whole base, “AND I THANK YOU FOR THAT INFORMATION! MY MISSION WAS TO DESTROY THIS BASE, BUT NEVER WOULD I HAVE IMAGINED THAT I COULD STEAL SUCH VALUABLE INTEL. PLUS, I WILL EVEN GET REVENGE ON ONE OF THE BRATS THAT HUMILATED ME!”
Kale’s face goes from terrified to enraged all within a split second, “SYPHOS! I thought you were dead!”
Syphos’s laugh shakes the ground, “The small pieces that were left of me merged with the plants of my domain! You would have had to burn my whole jungle down to kill me!”
That’s probably why the plants were able to attack us when we went through. He never truly died. I wasn’t expecting to get into combat so soon...
The small plants that were growing through the cracks in the floor are beginning to overtake the room. Kale places his brass knuckles on his fists. He had them upgraded to have blade attachments that run across them. He swings his fist from side to side. It slices not only through the vines, but partially through the wall as well.
Mavis picks up the phone lying on her desk. Her voice sounds out over intercoms throughout the base, “This is Mavis. We have a class two threat. I repeat, a class two threat. All troops without a wetsuit are ordered to put one on immediately. Engage the enemy ASAP.” She turns to us, “You two. Just wait here and le-”
Kale has already run out the door. I hear him yell, “I’LL KILL HIM!”
I hate to do this to her, but I run out of her office too. Kale isn’t thinking straight. He’ll get himself killed trying to get revenge. I’ve seen his anger well enough to know by now.
The roof collapses right in front of me. I jump back quickly. A giant vine crashed straight through the hallway. The enemy is everywhere and too close all at once. This isn’t the type of fight for me to use my new bow, but I do have an idea on how I can handle this. I pull out the magic paddle brush mom gave me and the box of vials from Amanda. I take the cork off of the yellow one and drink just a sip.
My mind soars. I’m able to think of so many things that it almost feels as though time is slowing down. I was worried about how much I could trust Amanda, but this sets that at ease. Now, I need to see the area.
I wave my brush, and doves appear from the end. They come from Aphrodite’s home. How my brush is able to teleport them here is a mystery to me. It was made by the god of metalworkers, Hephaestus, so who knows. I tell the doves to scatter around the base. They are extremely useful for scouting. I should be able to plan my next move from there.
The back of my brush glows. I can now see from the multiple dove’s perspectives. The first thing I see is an enormous flower in the center of the base. The stem alone is wide enough to swallow the building I’m currently in.
I see Ritz fighting large vines that seem to be protecting the flower. Saying the boy is amazing would be an understatement. He’s like a literal bolt of lightning. He’ll jump off the ground with charged electricity over him, directly shoot himself through one of the vines and land on a wall or the floor only to jump again immediately.
Kale is slicing his own way through from the ground. His brass knuckles have turned into gauntlets. The blades have grown with the knuckles extending all the way to his elbows. If I break directly through the wall in front of me, I should be able to catch up to him fairly quickly.
I pull the style out of my brush’s handle to reveal the cord inside. This turns the brush into a sort of modern flail weapon. I flip the tiny switch right at my index finger. The dove monitor flips into the brush revealing the exploding section in its place. I whip it at the wall which blasts a hole in it.
I sprint off after Kale. Other demigods in the base are also attacking the giant odd flower from multiple directions, so its attention is spread pretty thin. However, that doesn’t stop the place from turning more into a jungle by the second. If this keeps up, the entire base will be overtaken by plants. Not only that, but I was following in Kale’s path of destruction. As I get closer to the main flower, the plants are regenerating much faster than I can run.
If the plants turn their attention to me, I won’t be able to defend myself like this. Luckily, mother showed me a few new tricks. I retract the cord of my flail. It returns to its regular brush form. I twist the handle enough to turn it over three times. The brush part is loose, so I pull it off. The brush reveals itself to be a sheath for a larger than what should be possible pink blade. I think it also comes from Aphrodite’s home as well.
Regardless, when the plants ahead of me try to close off my path to the flower, I’m able to slice through them with ease. I say with ease, but truthfully, this is the first time I’ve used this blade in battle. It isn’t the same as swinging my flail around. It’s much heavier too.
I see a giant vine swinging above me. It stops midair against what appears to be a flash of light. The flash of light zips down into the path in front of me and crashes into the concrete. It’s Ritz.
I run to him. He’s lying in a small crater. His body is crackling with electricity. He slowly starts to stand but falls to his knees.
I hold out my hand to him, “Ritz! Are you okay?”
He takes my hand. His eyes are cloudy like thunderstorms now, but his voice is boyish, “Yes... I can’t get through from the air. The giant vines have too much room to move up there. I don’t know if we can win this. He’s already taken out some of my brothers.” Tears charged with electricity are coming from his eyes.
Brothers? He must be talking about the other soldiers here. To him, these are his family. I know what it’s like to want to protect that.
I help him up, “As long as we’re still breathing, this isn’t over. Kale is ahead of us. If we catch up to him, maybe the three of us can break through the flower.”
His eyes dart to my right, “Watch ou-”
At the rate my mind is running right now, I understood as soon as I saw his eyes. I grab Ritz with my right arm while I spin around to swing my sword. I slash through three smaller vines. I back step next to give us some distance. More still come at us.
I hope I understand this boy’s powers enough because I hold him towards the other vines and yell, “Fire!”
He takes the cue and holds up his arm. A bolt of lightning streaks from his hand. I don’t think he’s mastered that yet because some of the electricity travels through me from his body. It isn’t enough to really hurt me, but I wasn’t expecting it and drop him to the ground.
“I-I’m sorry. Are you hurt?” He asks me.
I stand and turn back towards the flower, “I’m alright. We need to catch up to Kale.”
Ritz nods, and we move forward. I slash our way through a few more walls of vines. When we come to the base of the flower, Kale is fighting back vines from all directions. Ritz zaps off to go help him with me right behind. I can tell the effects of the yellow serum have worn off. The world is moving much faster now, and my mind feels foggy at the moment. It must be a side effect.
Kale yells, “Watch my back. I’m about to start slicing through!”
Syphos’s voice echoes from around the area, “DO WHAT YOU WANT, YOU WORM! You will all die regardless! I have made two more of my towers of power! I can just transfer my body from one to another seamlessly!” His piercing laugh hurts my ears.
He isn’t lying. I can see one large flower that has grown to half the size of this one close to the general’s building. The other is growing close to the harbor but is much smaller.
Kale yells, “I’ll just slice through before the others are big enough!”
Kale slashes his bladed gauntlets across the stalk, but I don’t know how much damage he is going to be able to do. His arms begin moving at a much faster rate. Probably even faster than when he fought Luke in the arena. He’s giving this his all, so the most I can do is protect him for now.
I turn my back to the stalk and begin helping Ritz hold back the jungle that is closing in around us. Ritz is doing very well at running lightning through himself and shooting it to start fires. Through all of this, it is even starting to rain.
Ritz faces the sky, “Miss Mavis, what are you doing?”
I look up as well. There aren’t any clouds... Instead, a large body of water is hovering above us. Is the general really doing this?
Mavis’s voice sounds over the intercom again, “Ritz, I need you to escort our guests to their ship waiting outside the harbor before enemy reinforcements arrive. Commence tactic wrath of the gods...from the ship. The base is lost, but we can still save the people.”
Ritz balls his fists. I see tears streaming down his eyes, “I don’t want to leave you.” He shakes his head, “Kale! Other girl! Come to me.”
Kale is still slashing away with little progress done. It has just been regenerating this whole time. I place my hand on his back.
He stops, “I’m not leaving without Syphos’s head.”
“I know how you fe-” I stop. No, I don’t know how he feels. My friend isn’t dead. Kale has his own nightmares, I’m sure, and this has to be one of them. I turn him to face me, “I’m sorry, but we have to go. Your other friends are waiting for us.”
Ritz stomps his foot, “We don’t have time for this. That water will fall and drown all three of us if we don’t leave now.” He grabs both of our hands, “This is going to be awkward for you two but grab on to my arms tightly and don’t let go.”
Kale hesitates but does as Ritz says. I do the same. We both have to crouch slightly because of how much smaller he is. Ritz’s feet generate electricity below them. He jumps, and we shoot through the air. He lands on a wall but jumps off of it before Kale and I touch it. He’s almost flinging us through the air.
It definitely isn’t graceful, but I don’t think there were any other options. The giant mass of water is getting closer to the ground. He jumps from two more buildings and narrowly misses a few giant vines trying to stop us.
“Running so soon, child of Hermes? Realized you were outclassed again? I don’t know what this plan entails, but I promise that I will level this place to the ground!” Syphos mocks loudly.
I see Kale’s face grimace. The vines were already smashing into buildings, but now they are going for the boats in the harbor. Other demigods are jumping into the sea. I feel Ritz speeding faster. He lands on the tallest building at the harbor only for a vine to destroy it beneath us. He jumps so hard that it makes a dent in the falling building, and we soar out towards the water.
Our boat is pretty far out there, but at the speed we’re going it will only be a few seconds. There is a giant storm cloud forming out over the water as well. The waves are rough out by the boat.
Ritz yells, “Let go of my arms and cannonball into the water. NOW!”
We do as he says and land in the water close by the ship. I just barely see him land on the roof of the boat. I think he made us land in the water to keep us from smashing into the boat. The waves are pummeling Kale and I, but we are trying to swim towards the ship.
The area where Ritz landed is glowing brightly. He yells, “Demigods overboard!”
A rope ladder is thrown over the side of the boat. Kale is the first one to make it. I keep trying to push forward, but I can’t break through the waves. Kale sees this and swims out to me, holding the rope ladder all the while.
He outstretches his hand, and the first time, my fingers just barely touch his. The waves pull me under the water, but I feel his hand grab mine. He hoists my upper half out of the water, and I’m able to grab on to the ladder myself.
We begin to climb up. The sky above us is flickering with multiple lightning strikes from the storm above. All of them appear to be hitting the place where Ritz is supposed to be. I look out to the base to see the mass of water is now being held around the whole base. The buildings, jungle, and the giant flowers are all engulfed in water that is just floating there. It’s like a lake in the air.
Two older demigods help us over the edge of the boat. We can see Ritz from here. His whole body is glowing with electricity. In his arm is one massive lightning bolt growing larger with each strike that comes from the sky.
Ritz’s voice thunders, “BY ZEUS’S WRATH, I CONSUME YOU.”
He pulls his arm back and throws the bolt with ease. It flies across the sea in the blink of an eye to directly hit the mass of water held in the air. The crackles can be heard from here. Then, the plants begin to blacken like char.
Boats and gas tanks that were caught in the mass of water explode leading to a chain reaction all across the base. Syphos’s voice can be heard shrieking. If that didn’t kill him, it definitely hurt him...a lot.
I hear a thud. I turn to see Ritz has fallen off the roof of the boat. He’s yelling in agony. His arm that threw the bolt is burning red all the way from fingers to shoulder.
I remember the red vial Amanda gave me. I rush over to his side. I grab the box of vials out of my bag and uncork the red one. He’s flailing around too much though.
I yell, “Kale! Help me hold him down!”
Kale rushes to his other side. He holds down his arms. I can tell Kale is being shocked by this. I brace myself and hold Ritz’s mouth open. The electricity stings, but I pour just a little of the red liquid down his throat.
I jump back, “Okay, let him go.”
Kale releases him. Ritz convulses for a few more seconds, but slowly, the red on his arm fades. He turns to his side and begins to snore.
Kale stands and turns back to the base. I hear him say under his breath, “Trevor, this doesn’t make up for it, but I hope you can rest a little easier now.”
Two of the crewmen lift Ritz off the ground and carry him into the ship. A third walks up to me. He is dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and straw hat.
“I’m assuming you must be Captain Kassidy and Brigadier General Kale. I’m Captain Cruz Tidwell. What happened at the base? The general... do you know our orders?” Cruz asks a little nervously.
“If we turn the ship around now, I think we can still help her.” I tell him. Kale raises his arm in front of me.
“Her orders were for this ship and its crewmen to be put under our command. At least until our mission is complete. We still sail for Britain as expected.” Kale says defiantly.
I begin to argue, “Kale! We shou-”
He interrupts me harshly, “Those were her orders, Kassidy. Her choice was to sacrifice the base for our safe departure. If enemy reinforcements come like she thought, we would be delayed for who knows how long. Think about Luke.”
“If that was what she wishes, we will get you there at full speed. Do not worry. I’m sure she also gave the order for the troops to put on wetsuits. They are electricity resistant. While the base is in ruins, they should still be kicking enough to cover our retreat.” Cruz tries to say confidently, but he still glances at the leftover rubble with sad eyes.
The crazed laughter in my head stirs, “Who cares anyways? You barely knew the woman. Leave her from your thoughts. There is only one to save. The rest are all cannon fodder!”
I think back to the voice, “She put her life on the line for us! I will not just forget her. These people are not tools!”
“If you say, but in the end, you are all puppets regardless of who is pulling the strings. Even Luke, he is only a blank slate for me to do what I like.” The voice laughs, causing my head to ache.
I think so loud that I block his laughter, “HE IS NOT YOUR PUPPET!”
Kale places his hand on my shoulder, “Kassidy? Are you alright? Your eyes...they turned red for a brief moment.”
I gasp for air, “Huh? ...Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to rest.” I turn to Cruz, “Is there somewhere I can lie down for a bit?”
Cruz points his thumb over his shoulder, “There are rooms below deck. You both should go claim one. Get your rest. I’ll try to radio and find out what we are all marching into.”
I walk through the door behind him. I think us fighting Syphos here was only a coincidence. Even still, this journey is off to a rocky start. Honestly, I wasn’t much use during all that.
I enter a room that doesn’t look taken already. What really worries me is this red orb. I take it out of my bag. It appears to be glowing brighter than before. It makes me wonder...is it growing stronger?
As much as I hate having it around, Apollo may have been right. Bringing this far away from Luke’s body might have been the best decision. I think it really could have taken his body on its own.
The orb glows even brighter in my palm as if both confirming my thoughts and taunting me. I can fight it off long enough though. I swear to do this for you, Luke.
