Half-Blood Heroes II: Land Of Giants

This Isn't Your 'Proper Tea'

Croix drew her sword and swung at the bull. I grabbed a shawl, I'd only ever seen this stuff in I admit, cartoons. Not even through live-action, through cartoons. I held it and waved it around. That caught its attention. It glared at me so I did what any person would do. 1. Wave it around, 2. Get its attention, 3. Throw the shawl on the floor, 4. Then run away. I felt Croix's disappointed gaze on me. I was practically begging her (mentally) to not yell at me. The bull continued to chase after me while Queen Medb smirked. Claudia drew her fancy new sword and readied herself. Cynthia notched an arrow into Heartfire in anticipation. "Hey, instead of just preparing weapons, care to use them? Like, I don't know. RIGHT NOW!" Cynthia launched her arrow while Claudia helped me fight. Arin, Mark, and Zane were trying to reason with Queen Medb which I could tell weren't going well because of her angry expression. I raced around the city until my legs were Jell-O. Not like they weren't Jell-o before. Claudia too was tired, Croix decided to reason with Medb. Cynthia continued to chase the bull around. "Cynthia over there." The bull was running at her, she sidestepped it just in time. Just in time, she took one of her arrows. She raced ahead of the bull before sliding under it, stabbing it in the heart and rolling out to avoid getting crushed. She looked awesome while doing it, if I do say so myself. Queen Medb looked at Cynthia and her bull with a smile tugging at her lips. "Very well, a battle I wished for and a battle I got." She stepped out, only now did I notice what she was wearing. She wore a long dress, not a fancy one but something- I'm just not gonna describe something that I can't describe. "Be mindful of Macha's cave, betrayal is nigh." She pulled her sword out of its sheath. "Cynthia, you should have a sword just in case." Cynthia bowed. Croix came back holding her sword. "I saw the bull."

"Cynthia killed it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was so cool."

"Cooler than me?"

"Yes, much cooler." Croix stared at Claudia, shocked by her response. Queen Medb rode away into the distance with sunsets and mountains and a bird pooped on me. "Ew, what?" I looked up to see a pigeon. I sent a stream of water to it, staring at the bird poop on my shoulder. "Get it off, please." Mark laughed and took off my jacket. "Just take off your jacket, we can clean it later."

After some more traveling by foot, we found an emerald portal. "Take two guys, let's go." Croix walked up to the hole in the ground. "Just because it happened once doesn't mean it will happen again."

"What happened to learning from your mistakes?"

"Fine, we can continue by foot all the way."

"We don't have to do that." Zane pointed out a wolf hiding in a tree. He whistled for the wolf and it came running on all fours. It stopped short of Claudia. She reached down to pet it. Cynthia moved Claudia aside and kneeled before the creature. "Mac tíre iontach, take us far. Swift like the wind." She brushed her hand on its fur, It turned into something that resembled a ghost. It trotted around us for a while before speeding off in the sky. I ran off to chase it only to realize I was high up in the air. Behind me, everyone else followed. "Follow it, Kendra, the trail it leaves will disappear by daylight and we'll fall." That's all I needed, I bolted off following the wolf. Who knows how long we were running but it felt like years. We must've been running for miles and miles and- basically long distance. In the distance, the horizon was beginning to glow faintly. The sun was starting to rise and when it did we would fall to our doom. When there's a time limit, time just flies by at an alarming rate. Somehow the sun rose faster, the trail soon dissolved. Dang, it. The trail was gone fully. "Oh no."

"Oh, no is right."

The wolf disappeared and we were falling into the forest below. I felt the cold air sting me. Was this is? This is how I would die? I would be a disappointment. To everyone who had put their trust in me. In a split second, we fell into the trees. I blacked out soon after that.

I woke up to the strong smell of an apothecary. "So you've woken up." An ancient voice spoke. A woman with long red hair and brown eyes. "Who-who are you?"

"I am Macha, the rest of your friends are waiting at dinner." I turned and saw them all enjoying soup that looked straight out of the sewer. It smelled like it too. "Have some." I took a spoon and swallowed the soup. I gagged but held it in. "It's fine."

"Have some more."

"I'm full." I nudged Arin. He looked at me with his olive-green eyes but they were blank. Like they had no emotion behind them, just an empty soul. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine." His voice was so empty. Now did I realize, everyone looked the same? Except Claudia whose, eyes stayed blank but I could feel the aura of panic around her. At that moment Macha walked in holding cups of tea. "It helps me sleep at night, drink some." I took the cup, Claudia looked at me as every inch of sanity had been stripped from her three days ago. She shook her head making sure to keep out of Macha's view. I sniffed the cup, it didn't smell too suspicious. I was about to drink it when Claudia walked up to me and slapped the cup out of my hand. "You were the last person to wake up, the rest of us have been up for three days. I've seen there's something wrong with that witch and the tea. They become more empty the more they drink it." I stood up and looked at Croix, her eyes had gone dull. "Croix was the first to wake up, she was drinking this tea, it's changed how we see things. They're probably seeing a five-star meal while we see sewage water." I nodded slowly, it was pretty easy to believe. Zane was downing it like the soup was the greatest thing in the world. Mark's eyes were void of all emotions. "Psycho witch." Macha came back, Claudia signaled me to do what she did, act void of all emotions.

The next day I woke up (obviously) and saw that everyone else was already awake. I heard Macha enter the room, I shut my eyes. "Hmm, she's still sleeping. The tea didn't take effect, I'll brew it stronger next time." A pit feeling in my stomach snapped me back. This woman was doing something to my friends, to me. Breakfast was ready, sure enough, same set-up as yesterday with cup filled tea. Though my tea looked darker than yesterday. Claudia took my tea and emptied out some of it before adding water to it. "Dilute it, it won't be as strong." I downed it and winced at the bitter aftertaste. "Would you like pancakes?" Arin offered me. I stared at him, the disgusting looking pancakes and my hand. In the blink of an eye, I slapped him across the face. His eyes snapped back to reality. He stumbled back. "What was that for?" Claudia grabbed him and explained everything to him. "Woah, so we were just given tea that acts like crack?" I slapped his head angrily, directing to Claudia. "Dude, she's 13."

"Oh right, forget I ever said that."

"Too late man, not cool."

"Just forget it, forgetius maximus."

"Do you think all your commands will be followed if you put an 'ius' after the actual word?"

"I have been caught. Abort." He ducked under a table. "He's weird, how are you friends? You're smart and nice, he's weird and dumb."

"I know right, like your brother."

"I agree."

"Exactly."

"So dumb."

"Yeah."