The Legacy of Poseidon

Chapter 5: Waves (Alyssa POV)

Waves hit the ship with a hammering force. Blake panicked, looking like a deer about to get hit by a car. Sam tried to keep a determined face, spinning the steering wheel like a fidget spinner. As for me, I kept moving stuff to keep the ship balanced. Blake slipped and fell down the stairs hard. He moaned in an eerie way. "I think you can help more than moving furniture," Sam said, raising an eyebrow at me. "Like what?" I asked accusingly. "You're daughter of Poseidon, right? Can't you control the waves?" She said. I had to admit she had a point.

I nodded and enlarged my pendant into the 7-foot Trident. It glowed even in the rain and waves. I stepped into the center of the ship. If Poseidon gave me this power, I better make him proud. I faced the opposite direction we were going. I stared at a nearcoming wave. It was time. I slammed the Trident twice on the deck. The wave seem to look at me, as if finally seeing a person. To test this Theory, I moved the Trident up and down. The wave imitated my movements. Interesting, I thought. This could be power. Focus on the task at hand, I told myself. Maybe I can use this to get us to California faster. I banged the trident twice and turned it backwards. The wave did the same. It  whooshed our ship away by a few miles. "You just shaved off two hours from our trip," Blake said excitedly, was dancing from hoov to hoov. "Keep doing what you doing," Blake said, grinning widely. "Next wave," Sam said, still spinning the steering wheel. I

repeated my successful theory. I shaved off 3 more hours. Luck must be on my side for this ridiculous theory to actually WORK. I felt like queen of the sea. It kept going like that until sunset. My arms felt sore. Sam and I had to wait half an hour for Blake to   "tally" the hours on the tracker. (Satyrs are lazy. He probably procrastinated.) He came walking cheerfully, which I took as a good sign. Or maybe that satyr was in denial. (little plausible). Luckily he came with good news.  "After calculating the results, I have the answer: we're getting to Los Angeles, California by tomorrow. So pack your bags, ladies, cuz were going to LA!" Blake shouted, seeming happy. Sam looked relieved. So was I.  I had a feeling more stuff was in play here, so really, we need all the time we can get right now. What fun. (Sarcastic).

I was sleeping peacefully. Yesterday, before going to bed, I felt tired and sluggish. But I was actually getting sleep. Then Blake woke me up. Even worse, he did it using a blowhorn. BOOM! It was like being in the military and the general yells "WAKE UP SOLDIER!"  I immediately jumped from the bottom bunk, almost bumping my head.  "Just why?" I asked, mildly disturbed. "Only way to wake you up," He said casually.  I complained, saying "You couldn't find any other way?!"  Blake shrugged and went back to managing the sail.
I turned to Sam. "Let me steer."  "No need," she said, pointing ahead. "We're in LA".

"How far?" I asked, getting tired of walking because Blake

didn't want to call an Uber.   "20 miles," Blake announced. An Uber car neared us. "I'm your Uber driver for today," the guy said, with a hint of an English accent in his voice. He must be a londoner. "I told you not to call an uber!" Blake protested. Sam said defensively "I am not walking 20 miles."  He ended up getting in the Uber, probably because he was tired. Or maybe  he was scared of Sam and her golden Gladius ( most likely). As I sat in the middle of the back seat, I thought about the life of a demigod. Was it always going to be like this?" When did you find out that you are a demigod?" I asked Sam, trying not to gape as Blake ate a glass bottle. Do not stare. "On my 13th birthday, a few months ago," Sam replied, gaping at Blake. "What?!" Blake accused us, chips of broken glass on the car seat. "12 miles," Blake said, excited. I did not share his excitement. What if Apollo refused to do it? He was an immortal god. We would just have to walk away after that, since we couldn't attack him. Sam sensed my nervousness. "It'll be fine," she assured me, though I did not feel thoroughly convinced. There was no time to walk away. That ship has sailed. Unlike ours, which was tied to the dock. "We're here," as soon as the doors were shut the driver drove away as fast as he could. Coward. "That was rude," I pointed out. "To be fair, if I could run away from this I would," Blake admitted. "Too late for that goat boy," Sam teased. "Do not call me goat boy!"  Blake demanded. He sighed hopelessly. I laughed. Apollo lived in an apartment, which meant we to go upstairs. It's not enjoyable to go up 15 flights of stairs. We knocked on the apartment door. Hope Apollo's friendly.

The door opened. Phew. I assumed Apollo chose a mortal

form, judging from his look. He was wearing jeans and a t shirt that said "I'm an archery god."   Yep, this is definitely apollo. He had shaggy blond hair that curved at the sides.  His height was about 5'11. He had muscles on his arms and legs. His blond hair was messy, as if he hadn't combed it in days. Basically, a blond surfer. I peered in the corner. There was indeed a surfboard. Predictable. "May we come in and ask you something?" I said politely. I expected him to slam the door in our faces. Or demand an explanation. Instead he showed us into his apartment. The place was beautiful. The floor and kitchen were literally made out of marble. The ceiling was made out of gold. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. He had a golden dog statue in the room. "I know from your scent that your demigods," Apollo said. It was good that Apollo knew us . But the fact that demigods have a scent is mildly disturbing. And sounds like something a stalker would do. "And we can tell from your looks that you are Apollo," Sam said. That was either a compliment or insult. I could not tell the difference. "I'm guessing you need my help?" Apollo asked, looking at me. "We do need your help," I admitted. "What type of help?" Apollo asked. "Fighting a goddess help," Blake clarified.   "Eris is planning to trick Gods into a trance using hypnos,"  Sam clarified more. "I heard about that. Some of Artemis's hunters got temporarily stuck in that trance."
"Will you help us or not?" Blake shouted. There was a pause of silence. Bravely, I gave Apollo my charming smile. I save it for special occasions. Apollo took a deep breath, then exhaled.   "I'll provide my Godly help to you, but only on one condition: you have to get my bow and quiver back from her Arachne. She has a cave on this map. Get it back and I'll help you." Apollo gave us the map and push us out of there. "Another Quest?" Sam complained.  "How many days do we

have?" I asked. "Three and a half days," Blake answered. Il I noticed that my friends walked kind of sluggishly  so I said something to change the subject. "I've noticed that always when we're walking, I'm always in the middle," I said. Take the opportunity for a different subject, I thought. "And I'm always on the right side," Sam noted.  "There is one way to get there faster," Blake said, the mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Oh no. no no no no no," Sam complained. "What?" I asked. "Shadow travel," Sam clarified. "Shadow what now?" I stuttered. It's a form of transportation that allows children of pluto so you shall shall leave to a place. But it makes the user extremely fatigued, Sam said. She grabbed my hand and Blake's. She took deep breaths. And together the three of us plunged into darkness. I already knew that it was going to be pitch black, but it wasn't just dark. It felt dark and cold. That is the best description. I felt alone and isolated. I squeezed Sam's hand to make sure she was still there. I didn't have to squeeze Blake's hand, since he kept making goat noises. Sam clung to my hand tightly. I could feel her heartbeat. How did she feel when she when she shadow traveled by herself? Wow. I felt like I was floating in a void. A colder version of space. Thank god I'm not an astronaut. This was already enough of the experience. I decided to just close my eyes , since trying to see in pitch black darkness probably wasn't good for my eyesight. "Almost there," Sam whispered to me. Blake groaned. He was most likely having some form of shadow travel sickness (sts).  I did not wish to see how a goat vomits. I saw the light. The shadows were gone. It only took me a second to realize that, incidently, we were not even on the ground. We were in freefall. "Why are we not on the ground?!" I yelled in disbelief. I glanced at my friends for

answers. Neither had one. Sam didn't speak; she seemed to be stuck in a trance. She had bags under her eyes, like a form of fatigue. "Why is she unconscious? She should not be unconscious," I asked Blake, holding his hand and Sam's so we wouldn't get hurt. We were like a human trampoline. "When children of pluto shadow travel, they can get extremely fatigued, and it's even more dangerous for new demigods. Sam didn't want me to tell you, but this is her first shadow travel," Blake and informed me. We finally reached the ground. Well, not exactly. We landed on a tall, broad tree.
Close enough. I spit out a few leaves. I took a wrong step and fell out of the tree. To make it worse, I was still holding Sam Blake's hand, which meant we fell out of the tree together. The highlight of my day (I'm being sarcastic of course 😒).