What would've been a quiet summer turns into a globe-trotting adventure when an incident in Olympian High's campus garden gets the attention of resident Chosens Amelia Kingston and Zeus Olympian. To their surprise, the culprit is none other than the...
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"Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Yeah, I do!"
"But what if they see through it?"
Raymond waved his hand dismissively. "It'll be fine. Trust me. Since when did people ever see through my disguise?"
Amelia raised a brow. "Ever since you act like your childish self almost every single time."
"Just have some faith, will ya?" Raymond flipped his auburn hair, which was definitely not a wig. "I can be smart when I put my mind to it."
"If you say so." Amelia shook her head slightly. "I just hope this actually works."
After their small discussion outside Alistair's underground workshop, the two Chosens headed to Amelia's bedroom to talk further about Raymond's so-called escape plan. It wasn't simple as he put it—timing was key for this one. They had to make sure no one suspected anything beyond the surface of their distraction, or the plan would fall apart.
"Don't worry about it." Raymond glanced at Amelia by her vanity mirror, his black eyes now hazel in color. "This will work."
Amelia sighed for the umpteenth time. She should be glad that Raymond was even thinking of attempting the plan, but after what happened in El Toro, anxiety had been constantly crawling inside her like an insect with a thousand legs, making her second-guess anything and everything.
Clearing his throat, Raymond turned around and faced Amelia, who was sitting on one of the green couches. "Oh, nooo. My friends are in danger and I need to save them!" He made arching motions with his arms. "Ka-cha! Barrier activate! You shall not take another step forward unless you wanna get through me!"
Amelia frowned, biting her tongue to stop herself. "I don't sound like that."
"Yeah, you do." He—or she, when Amelia thought about it—put his hands on her hips. Raymond was wearing the same clothes she had for the day—a green floral hoodie and jeans. "That's why you're one of a kind, Redhead." Then he pointed at himself. "Oh, hey! That's me, too! I have red hair! Kinda looks stylish on me, doesn't it?"
Now Amelia was laughing, almost rolling over the couch. Between her tears of joy, she could see Raymond smiling wide.
Eventually, a while after Amelia composed herself, Raymond brought over a medium-sized duffel bag which contained several bundles of cash, some clothes, a silver canister, and Hermes' winged sandals, Talaria.
Her eyes widened at the familiar cylinder in the bag. "Is that a. . ."
"Yep." Raymond grabbed the object and handed it to Amelia. "Alistair had some metal sheets lying around a while ago and then I remembered you using a collapsible staff thingie when we were, you know, fighting against each other. So I thought I asked him a favor to make this for you."
Amelia stared down at her reflection on the retractable staff, feeling its feather-light weight on her hand. As if something possessed her hand, she found herself twirling it around her fingers before flicking her wrist, causing the cylinder to multiply in height.
