New Olympians

Fight and Flight

They drove for an hour. Zander began to feel Olympus getting closer and closer. Harrison checked the direction they were going on Zander's phone and discovered that there was a large forest there.
"So we won't be able to drive right up to it." Zander said when he told him. "That's... annoying."
"We'll have to walk into the woods a little." Terick said. "It's not the end of the world."
"Yeah, I've walked through the swamp a bunch of times," Peter added. "It can't be that different right?"
Harrison smacked his own face with his hand.
"Why would you say that, Pete? Just why? Now something's gonna go wrong."
"You're being dramatic, Harrison." Terick chided.
"Mm hm, just wait."
A little behind them in Helen's car, the driver was grumbling about the events earlier that morning.
"Arian is getting out of hand! If he acts like that during a fight he's going to get people hurt!"
"I don't think he would do that in a fight." Aubrey said from the back seat, Daisy curled up asleep in the seat next to her. "That would distract him from fighting."
"Okay, whatever. That doesn't mean he should be mean to Zander like that, he's really trying."
"Not even my brothers or cousins would act like that." Holly said from the passenger seat, just barely able to see over the dashboard. "My abuela would pull out the chancla, and no one wants that."
"He won't listen to anything I say." Helen. "I don't think my magic would even work on him."
"He didn't listen to me either." Holly agreed.
"That's because you're not what speaks to him." Aubrey said. "When you think about it, the two of you have power over love too. Helen, you're motherly love, Holly you're sisterly love. But we've already seen that he doesn't listen to Aria. And from what she's told me, he wouldn't listen to their mom either. So you don't have any affect on him."
Helen and Holly glanced at each other, always surprised by Aubrey's strange wisdom. Then Helen finally said,
"But Aria told me that he always ignored the other girls at their school, so why would he listen to you any better?"
Aubrey opened her mouth to answer, stopped, then shut it again.
"I don't know." She said finally.
The sun made its way closer to the middle of the sky as noon approached. They stopped at a gas station before eleven o'clock to refuel and stretch their legs before leaving again quickly. After they'd been back on the road for a few minutes, a sense of dread fell over Zander.
"Somethings wrong." He said immediately. Harrison and Peter stopped their conversation.
"What do you mean?" Harrison asked.
"Something's happening."
"What, do you feel a disturbance in the Force?" Peter said, only half joking.
"I don't know, I just-"
"Zander! On our left!" Terick yelled suddenly.
Zander wrenched the wheel to the right as something yellow and black flashed beside their car. Other drivers on the road must've seen it too, as the cars next to them pulled over to the left suddenly, some of them barreling off the road or into each other.
"What is that!?" Peter demanded as a gigantic shadow sped back towards them.
"There's three things it could be," Terick said quickly. "A dragon, a griffin or-"
"Please don't say a roc!" Harrison whined.
Giant black talons attached to scaly yellow feet came into view of their windshield, outstretched to grab the car.
"It's a roc!" Terick yelled. Zander swerved around the incoming talons, tires screeching. Peter looked through the back window to check on their friends and saw the small brown car and red pickup swerving in tandem behind them.
"Zander, pull off the road!" Terick commanded. Zander immediately pulled off to the right and into the grassy field, dirt flying. Helen and Hudson pulled their vehicles next to them as the boys jumped out of their car. Zander pulled out his Thunderbolt as several of the kid's eardrums popped with the change in air pressure. A wall of clouds surrounded their cars, blocking the view of anyone outside it. Holly brought flames to her hands, Henry was hovering a foot off the ground and the twins had their spears at the ready.
"Helen and Aubrey, hide!" Zander commanded.
"What, why?!" Helen demanded.
"Now!" He yelled, louder than any of them had heard before. "Henry and Hudson, you too!"
None of them dared to argue and crouched behind a small hill.
"What was that about?" Peter asked the lord Zues, Trident in hand.
"They can't do anything that will help. Henry doesn't have a weapon yet, or else I'd let him-"
A high pitched shriek split through the clouds, the cry of the world's biggest bird. Then a yellow beak pierced through the clouds, followed by a blue-black head, golden eyes flashing. The roc's wings were bigger than the wall of clouds Zander had created. Its belly was a creamy white and its tail the color of rust. The giant bird spotted them on the ground and swept down, talons outstretched. Holly threw a ball of fire the size of an exercise ball at the bird's feet and it hit its mark. The bird screeched and pulled up with a massive flap, wind ripping through the grass. Vines grew around Daisy as she brandished her golden scythe, waiting.
"Well," Harrison began after a moment. "By the rules of Pokémon, lightning should work against it-"
The roc swept back into view and Zander shot a bolt of lightning at it. It hit the bird's wings, arched across it and shot into the gray beyond.
"How about we don't fight using the rules of Pokémon!" Aria yelled at Harrison. Everyone dodged the roc's talons as it dove for them. Arian and Peter lashed out with their weapons, striking the yellow feet.
"What's the point of being lord of the Skies when everything is immune to lightning!" Zander yelled to no one, frustrated.
"Is now a bad time to mention that the Native Americans called rocs thunderbirds?" Terick asked.
"Yes!" Everyone yelled.
"Isn't there some kind of magical Pokédex we can use?-"
"Harry, shut up about Pokémon!" Arian yelled.
"Wait, no. That's actually a good idea." Hudson called out from his hiding place. "I'm gonna work on that."
The roc swooped through the clouds again. Daisy lashed her vines at its talons, but they only snapped as it flew past. Holly threw more fire at it and Arian cut its leg, but it flew away again.
"Zander, get rid of the clouds!" Aria told him. "Just cover the road! They aren't helping us!"
Zander hit his forehead with his fist.
"Duh!"
The clouds around them quickly disappeared until only the road was covered. Now they could see the massive bird of prey barreling towards them, which was able to see them as well. Holly shot fire and Peter flung a chunk of earth. The fire hit the bird's wing and as it screamed in pain, the rock hit the bird on its head. The roc started falling, rolling through the air. It hit the ground, dirt and grass spraying into the sky. The roc rolled to its feet as it landed before spreading its wings and screeching at its foes. Vines wrapped around its wings and legs while Holly threw fire and Peter shot a jet of water from a newly made fountain. The fire hit, causing feathers to smolder, but the gargantuan bird shrugged off the water. Arian, Aria and Harrison charged forward, weapons brandishing. Arian turned his Spear into a pike, nearly long enough to strike the bird from many feet away.
But the roc wrenched one wing free of the vine binding it and flapped with all its might. Wind hit the Olympians with the force of a hurricane, which Peter was familiar with. Everyone farther away stumbled with the strength of the wind, but those who had charged it were thrown off their feet, the wind knocking the wind out of them as they hit the ground. The bird broke free of the remaining vines and took to the sky again.
"Zander!" Terick called, crouching near where the others were hiding. "Being lord of the Sky means more than controlling lightning and clouds! Use the wind! You always forget the wind-"
Whatever Terick said after that didn't reach Zander's ears.
The wind, he needed to use the wind. Air, that's what the sky was really, not just the clouds. He'd only used wind to hit a griffin and hadn't used it since.
Wind started to spiral around him as he stared down the roc, which was bearing down on them again.
Air moved things, it destroyed things... it made things fly. Fly. Fly!
"Fly!" Zander yelled aloud. He clenched his fists and pulled the wind around him. He lifted off the ground and lightning struck him from the clouds covering the road, though he felt nothing but the heat. The lightning jutting from the Thunderbolt grew longer and more erratic, searching for something to strike.
Zander shot towards the roc while his friends cheered. The great bird had no time to react before Zander drove the Thunderbolt into its shoulder. The roc shrieked and flailed in the air. Zander flew behind it and thrust out his arms, slamming a whole tornado's worth of wind into the bird's back. The roc hit the ground a few yards away from Harrison, Aria and Arian. The three Rottweiler puppies ran out of the grass and stood in front of Harrison, barking at the monstrous bird.
"No, guys!" Harrison exclalimed, kneeling to grab them. "What are you doing!? You're gonna get hurt! Sit!"
Vines and trees burst out of the ground, wrapping around the roc's wings, neck and legs as Daisy slammed the golden blade of her scythe deep within the earth. It reared and screeched... before a streak of golden light shot through its uninjured shoulder, quickly followed by a streak of silver light that pierced its chest. Everyone turned towards the source of the lights to see a boy and a girl on bicycles, holding longbows.
The girl had silvery blonde hair and was wearing a light blue shirt under a camo vest, her bow was silver and blue as well. The boy looked similar but his hair was more yellow and he had an orange sweatshirt on with a guitar hung on his back. His bow was red and gold.
The girl jumped off her bike and drew an arrow. As the notch reached her ear, the arrow glowed silver. She released it and it shot through the roc's neck. Without missing a beat, Arian and Aria thrust their spears into its sides, blood running down the shafts. The boy was a bit slower getting off his bike, coming to a stop before firing a golden arrow.
Zander flew down and landed on the back of the bird's massive head with a thud. He raised the Thunderbolt over his head, lighting striking it.
"Should've thought of this sooner. Sorry birdie."
He thrust the Bolt down and electricity shot out and hit the roc's eye. The bird gave one long, painful screech, then finally slumped to the ground, dead.
The new boy switched his bow for the guitar on his back.
"Is anyone hurt?" He asked, walking closer.
"Just some scratched up elbows and stuff." Harrison said, holding a puppy. "You must be the new Apollo."
"That's me." He said. "I'm Asher. Oh, watch this, I just figured out I could do this."
He strummed his guitar and started singing "Heal the World" by Micheal Jackson. His voice reverberated as he sang and soon, everyone's scrapes, cuts and bruises faded away.
"That's awesome!" Peter said.
Asher turned to the girl.
"See, Ava! I told you it was cool!"
"Yeah, yeah whatever." Ava said, rolling her eyes. She waved at Zander. "'Sup?"
"Hey. I guess you're Artemis then?"
She suluted. "Yep. So what's going on? Besides the bird?"
"We're heading for Olympus, it's close, in a forest nearby."
"Sweet, let's take care of the bird and go."
"I want some of the feathers!" Parth said, putting away his hammer.
"Make it quick, I don't want to leave these clouds here for too long."
"Those were really annoying, by the way." Asher said.
Thunder rumbled as Zander just looked at him.
"Right, never mind."
Parth gathered up his feathers and Peter opened a chasm under the roc's body, swallowing it in the earth. After he closed it again, Daisy waved her scythe and the grass regrew over their battlefield.
Helen came up to Zander, arms crossed. She didn't look very happy. Zander swallowed.
"Helen, I'm sorry, but you and I both know that you would've only put yourself in danger, and been no help." He winced at the harshness of his own words, but then continued quickly before Helen could say anything.
"I didn't let Henry fight because he doesn't have a weapon yet. Same with Hudson. And yours and Aubrey's powers... probably wouldn't have been very helpful against a big bird."
He mentally braced himself for her to yell at him. Helen glared at him for a moment, then her expression softened and she smacked him on the arm.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm so sick of being useless though."
"What? You're definitely not useless. We wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as we have without you. We need you."
He stopped and blushed, but ignored it. Helen's face turned a little pink too, and smacked his arm again.
"You're too jumpy. Let's hit the road, Sparky."
"Yeah." Sparky?
"Load up! Now!" Zander yelled. Everyone dropped what they were doing and got into their vehicles. Asher got in Zander's car and Ava got in Helen's. Zander willed the clouds covering the road to dissipate as he got into his car. There were several cars on the sides of the road, some more damaged than others, but most of the vehicles were driving down the pavement as usual, if a little slower. In the distance, there was the sound of police sirens.
"Yep, leave now." Zander said, and he pulled onto the road, the other two vehicles close behind him.
"Just a little while longer." Zander said, half to himself.
"I'm done with driving." Harrison announced.
"Well hey," Asher said, grinning. "Life is a highway."
"No." Harrison said immediately. "That stops right now. I will push you out of this car."
"Hmph." Asher huffed, crossing his arms. "You're just like my sister."
In Helen's car, the girls were talking to Ava. Particularly Aubrey, who was asking the important questions.
"So do you like, not like boys?" She asked her.
"What?" Ava said, eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"
"Do you not like romance and stuff? That's how Artemis was in the myths."
"Oh, I think I remember now. Um, no. Was it really a thing?"
Helen nodded. "Yeah, she was always really serious about it. Harry and Terick have been telling us the old myths."
"Uh, yeah no. That seems kinda silly."
The other girls made vaguely surprised sounds.
"I guess that's not what makes Artemis, Artemis." Helen said.
Ava was still a little confused, but didn't say anything else about it. Mostly.
"So, are you and Zander like...?" She asked Helen.
Helen turned bright red and held the steering wheel tighter.
"No." She muttered. Aubrey and Daisy snickered.
"What's so funny?" Ava asked.
"So y'know how Zander is Zues?" Daisy said.
"The guy with the wind and lightning? No, never would've guessed."
Daisy laughed. "Well, Helen is the new Hera."
"Okay?"
"Hera is known for being Zues' wife." Aubrey said with a smirk.
"Oh. Ohhhhh! Ha ha."
"It's not funny." Helen said grumpily.
"It's a little funny." said Aubrey.
"Yeah, well, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, so there!"
Ava laughed. "What the little dude? How was that a thing? Ha!"
The other girls laughed harder than before.
"Guys, don't make fun of Hudson." Holly scolded.
"It's more about what Hephaestus was supposed to look like. But Hudson doesn't look like that at all."
"Just be nice."
In the pickup, their group was much more... rambunctious. The radio was turned up and everyone was talking loudly, except for Arian, who was quiet as usual.
They drove for a couple more hours until Harrison pointed to a smaller road that led off the highway and they drove for another hour. The road ended at a gravel parking lot with only forest beyond. Hudson's pickup started sputtering as they pulled in, seeming to only reach its parking space by Hudson's sheer force of will. It shut off with a wheeze as it came to a stop. Hudson immediately jumped out and opened the hood.
"What happened?"
Parth got out and joined him.
"I was wondering how it worked. Thought you were gonna break the laws of magic. When we enchant things, we have to continuously power the enchantments with energy, usually from gemstones. But your enchantments lasted longer than I would've thought."
Hudson grunted. "I'm a mechanic, not a magician."
"You're gonna need to be both."
"Even then, it doesn't matter right now, Hudson." Zander said, getting out of his car. "We have to walk the rest of the way."
Harrison groaned, puppy in his arms. "I hate walking."
"Dude," Peter said. "You were just complainin' about drivin'."
"I would much rather fly." He said.
"But Henry and Zander are the only ones who can fly, Harry." Helen pointed out, picking up a Rottweiler at her feet. "Zander, why don't you and Henry go ahead of us and get to Olympus first?"
Zander thought about that for a second before shaking his head.
"No, I'm not leaving you guys alone, and I might need your guy's help."
Helen held the puppy tighter, a strange feeling of pride welling up in her chest.
"I agree with Zander." Terick said. "Who knows what dangers may be lurking in this forest? Magical or otherwise."
Asher elbowed his twin.
"You see? Forest monsters."
Ava rolled her eyes. Zander looked at Ava for a few seconds, then said,
"Ava, why don't you lead the way? You and Terick. I imagine you have more experience with forests than the rest of us."
"You're the boss."
Asher said, "Hey, I know forest stuff too!"
"Then join her. Let's go!"
They filed into the forest, Ava, Asher and Terick in the front with Zander and Helen behind them. Arian and Aria took the rear, weapons at the ready. The sun was making its way down, touching the horizon soon after they started walking.
They got a little scare after a few minutes when a snake slithered out of the bushes towards them. Helen, Asher and Holly screamed and jumped away. Daisy, who was using her scythe as a walking stick, turned to look at it. The snake wrapped around the scythe and spiraled up the shaft. It stopped and looked Daisy in the eye.
"Howdy, little friend." She said. The snake shimmered and turned bright green, sprouting little dragon wings out of its back. Everyone stared at the tall girl and the snake.
"Um, Terick." Zander said. "Would that be the animal thing you were talking about yesterday?"
"Yes, I would think so." The treefolk looked just as surprised as everyone else.
"He's adorable!" Daisy said, grabbing the snake and wrapping it around her neck like a scarf. Harrison, who was holding one of the puppies, held it a little tighter.
"The winged snake was one of the symbols of Demeter." He said.
"So is everyone getting an animal sidekick?" Henry asked.
"Maybe." Terick answered.
"Let's just keep going guys, we're so close!" Zander said. A spark of electricity arched through his blonde hair. Helen put her hand on his arm.
"Hey, calm down, we'll get there."
"I know, let's just go."
And they continued their trek. After an hour, the sun went down, casting the already dark forest in near complete darkness. After a couple minutes of walking in the dark, Arian called out,
"Hey, sun guy! Can we get some light, dude?"
Asher hefted his guitar.
"No problem!" He strummed a few chords quickly. "You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine!"
A little ball of light shone near the neck of the Lord Apollo's guitar.
"Ta da!"
Zander leaned over and muttered in Ava's ear.
"How did he even figure out he could do that?"
"He was Asher." She said, "He just sang what he felt and it happened. Not everything works though."
Zander nodded and kept walking. As they walked, Aubrey started humming the rest of Firework.
A while passed when Harrison suddenly straightened, eyes wide.
"Um... guys... I think... I think there's something out there."
Everyone stopped to look at him.
"What?" Zander said.
"What do you mean?" Helen asked.
"I think I feel something, in my head." He pointed forward. "That way."
"How can you feel somethin'?" Daisy asked, petting her new snake friend.
"Like something undead?" Aria questioned.
"I-I think so. It feels like the underworld but more condensed, if a little faint."
"So it's not close?" Terick asked, looking increasingly more worried.
"It's close, about a half mile in front of us, it's just not that strong."
"So it's like, a little weak zombie?" Henry suggested.
"Maybe, but... something feels wrong."
Terick and Parth looked at each other.
"Anything ring a bell, old friend?" Terick asked the dwarf.
"It's not much to go on. There's not many wild undead creatures. Only-"
Suddenly, a sound echoed over the distant trees. It almost sounded like a howl at first, low and guttural, but as it went on it became like a rattling scream.
Terick's face turned white as a sheet.
"Oh no." He whispered. "Not that!"