Red Flame

Chapter 7

We've been training for two weeks, Loki sat them out, he wasn't going to be a puppet. Thor made Annabeth and Percy train with me. Hades and I had been training too. He really knew how to teach a girl something. I could now spark a fire with my bare hands, I could throw fireballs, and fountains. I could summon fire from nothing. But the hard part was yet to come. Hades said since I was born half demigod and half sorceress, I had other powers as well, but he couldn't teach me. He said, I would need a sorcerer or Sorceress to teach me. I didn't know where to find one, but I'm sure somewhere out there, was just the person. Loki knew some Sorcery, but he refused to teach the "Fire witch." Typical Loki name for someone he didn't care for. After I threw him, he was done.

Today, Annabeth and I were talking battle strategy. Percy kept hades busy. I didn't mind being with Annabeth, she was a great friend. One of the best. And I didn't know what was going to happen in this future battle, but if she were beside me, I would be fine. Thor was teaching Anna about fighting. Training her, she insisted. He didn't like it but, she was not easy to say 'no' to. So he taught her upper body strength. She had some of that. And she wasn't half bad. Annabeth promised to teach her weaponry when she showed progress in body strength. It wasn't easy, but she made it through. For two weeks she's gotten stronger and faster, more agile. A fast learner. She puts her nerd helmet on when fighting the guards. All about physics. She was good at it though.

Loki walked through the courtyard. I felt like I needed to talk to him, ask him to train me in sorcery. But I also needed to apologize. I realized how wrong I was, he wanted to help me unlock myself and I took it to far. Annabeth noticed me staring at him. I felt horrible about it. She nudged my arm.

"Go, ask him, the worst he could do is say 'no' to you," She said.

That was reassuring. I ran over to him, but when he noticed me, he passed me by. I looked at Annabeth who nudged me to continue. So I ran further ahead, where I stopped in front of him, he went around me. I got the sense that he didn't want to talk to me. I looked at Annabeth again. She rolled her eyes and nudged me again. She was saying stand my ground.  Get his attention. So I ran further ahead and I stopped I then lifted my hand and lit a fire in front of me. He stopped glaring at me. But he stood there, not moving. I put the fire out and he continued to stand there. Not impressed.

"I'm sorry for the other day, I went to far," I said. He didn't budge.

"Look Loki, we haven't gotten along, I will agree, but I am sorry, I honestly was going to lock myself up because I hurt you, I didn't mean to," I said. He scuffed.

"Your actions have no meaning to me, I honestly have no remorse for them, but I will forgive them," He said as he began to walk away. I grab his arm, he glares at my hand. I let go.

"I need you," I said. He looked at me with an evil grin.

"Can't say I haven't heard that line from other women before," He said. That was cruel. And just, ewe.

"No, Loki, not like that, I meant I need you to teach me sorcery, I could use it," I said. He pursed his lips putting his hand on his chin. Thinking? He never did that.

"No," He said bluntly. Well, that was rude.

"Look, I don't care about the beef between us, but our worlds are about to be destroyed by demons, and the only one who can save them, is me, and I can't without tapping into my witch side, please I need your help," I pleaded. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Gods, I know you're right, even If I don't want to admit it, I'll teach you twice weekly, for two hours, but no more, listen or I won't teach you anymore," He said. His terms were common. And to argue them now would-be insanity. So I put my hand our for him to shake. He snickered sarcastically.

"I don't shake hands, I'm not someone you are just meeting," He said. I rolled my eyes.

He walked on from me. I looked at Annabeth and gave her a thumbs up. She seemed happy about it. I finally had a teacher, and maybe I could tap into my power a little better. He was a great person to teach me too. I had admired his work for some time. And if anyone could teach me, he could. It was only a matter of time before I got the hang of it and became powerful enough to defeat the demons. I ran back to Annabeth, she was excited. We talked about it for a few minutes before going back to training. I was getting rather good at these flips and maneuvers. It was as if I had been doing them for years. Annabeth was a great challenger. She had skills no one else had. And I loved training with her.

"Foot work Gabbie," She said. I nodded. She started to twist into me with her sword when flipped over the top of her and my sword stopped in her mid-back. She giggled. She turned to me and I lowered my sword.

"That was actually really good, keep this up, you could defeat Thor or Hades," She laughed. Percy joined us eventually. He smiled when we told him about Loki. He was happy I was getting the help I needed. It was exciting. Now I could learn to defeat these demons. And Percy could help me keep calm. He was of water, always calm. It killed me honestly. His father was coming in sometime this month, and Athena and Zeus. They wanted to see their warrior niece. No pressure or anything. Word from the underworld was the demons have settled, and are regrouping, it could be months before an attack. They estimated two years before it happened, at best.

Thor kept his eyes on my sister while she was here, she was always with him, she even shared a room with him. You would think they were married, and she was getting comfortable with this place and him. She barely seen me. But with both of our training, we didn't have time to be together. I was okay with knowing she could protect herself if the demons showed up. For now, Hades had a barrio around this world. And until they figured out how to break it, we were safer here. Mom and dad called often, but they couldn't figure out anything on those things. I didn't like that news, but what could I do about it? The only thing we could do is hope they have a breakthrough. Loki didn't have to travel back and forth now, so that made things easier for him.

Everyone carried their weight around here. Not one person was just relaxing. Maybe the children and mothers, but the rest of us were training, and gathering information. And that was one of those major key roles, Information. And to my surprise, everyone was making sure that any information found, was given to Thor and Loki. And to Hades. But for now, we trained, and made sure we were ready.