The Daughter of Artemis

Chapter 9

Xander_____

     It wasn't until the battle was over that I realized we lost Gwynn. The wolves had retreated for no reason at all, I thought is was because we had some small advantage. It wasn't until Lydia screamed and started yelling for Gwynn. I let this happen, I thought. I wasn't paying very good attention I was worried about myself and nothing more. That was one trait all the Aphrodite kids had, selfishness. I tried to be as selfless as possible I've tried to let it go, but it doesn't matter it is a part of me. But it does matter. Your selfishness cost Gwynn her life. I hung my head and stared at my bloodied shoes. Lydia was still frantic and wouldn't shut up. Only now she had begun to cry.
     "Lydia, stop," I begged. She turned on me, her eyes were puffy and swollen. Her cheeks were tear stained.
     "Stupid, mortal, human boy! You heard the plan! Their going to tear apart Olympus and use Gwynn as bait! And now what? Hmm? I don't know were she went and this was all my fault I let her come and- and-" she broke off and continued her sobbing.
     "We can't get her back, but we can still stop the attack."
     "How?"
     "We find Zeus and tell him everything we know. And then prepare for battle. When the time comes we'll save Gwynn. It's not to late."
      "What if they bite her," she whimpered. Hadn't thought about that.
     "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but right now we've got to get of here." That was the truth. Saving Gwynn felt like a sweet dream. I would be a hero. I would have saved the damsel in distress. The only real thing I actually felt was the real blood oozing from my arm and the exhaustion from the past couple days. I could see in Lydia's face that she felt the same way. Then the realization hit. We have to tell Artemis. We have to find their camp. Would they have moved by now? How long does one camp stay in one location? Every nerve in my body was telling me to turn back to the safety of my cottage. Every fiber of my being wanted to. But I couldn't Gwynn need us and the unwavering rod of iron, known as Lydia, was now starting to waver. Lydia started walking, more like limping, out of the alley. I honestly didn't care where she was going, I was hungry and thirsty, and the metallic scent of blood was suffocating. 

        I followed Lydia all the way to about the sketchiest convenient store I have ever seen. I decided asking questions should wait even though walking into a corner store covered in werewolf blood, should have raised some questions. We walked in to the dingy store, and I found it to be surprisinly clean. The large man behind the counter looked up at the sound of the door bell. But he wasn't looking at us with two eyes. He had one massive blue eye right in the center of his forehead. I slowly reached for the knife in my bag. Lydia held out an arm to stop me. Then she did the last thing I wanted her to do, she spoke to the monster.

      "Hello, Ms. Bexley," Lydia said. Ok so that is not a man cyclops. The supposed lady cyclops, Ms. Bexley, shifted behind the to small counter. She looked down at us and grunted.

      "What do you want, hunter," she snarled with a thick country accent. Lydia took a step forward and casually put her hands in her pockets. She acted like she hadn't just fought off a horde of werewolves and lost her best friend. Besides the being drenched in blood, she looked almost normal. 

      "We're just passing through and needed to make a pit stop. Do you still take drachmas? Or just mortal money now? Some places are doing that now." Lydia pretended to look at the stocked shelves. The was some normal food but in the back, there was the weirdest food and drinks. This place sold Nectar infused soda and Ambrosia lunchables. After aimlessly wandering aroung Lydia and I approached the counter. Bexley glared down at us. 

       "I reckon y'all want the bathroom key? Y'all look like ya' took a bath. A blood bath," Ms. Bexley laughed at her own joke and tossed Lydia two keys. Ms. Bexley went back to doing whatever it is a cyclops does working at a corner store. We headed to the back of the store where the restrooms were and to say the least, it was the last place I would want to wash up. Before I even made it in the bathroom there were bloody footprints that didn't belong to me. The inside was cleary never washed. There was toliet paper scattered on the floor and blood stains in the sink and on the mirror. It also smelled like someone had stashed a dead Minotaur in here for a few decades.