New Olympians

Surf and Turf

Daniel made himself at home pretty quickly. All of the other teens liked him immediately, particularly Hudson, Holly and Henry. Peter joked that it was because they were all the same height and Helen said that it was because they were similar ages, which Harrison argued were almost the same points.
Daniel started growing grapes in the garden, and after talking with Daisy, it turns out that she wasn't able to grow any grapes. The treefolk took a general liking to the lord of the Vine as well, especially Teena.
They began harvesting the crops that Daisy had grown, cutting down the amount of food that they would need to buy at the store sharply. Speaking of the store, that was also an interesting ordeal.
Zander hadn't found a button that turned Olympus invisible and he wasn't able to figure out how to control the Four Winds, so they had to stop well outside the town they intended to shop at. Then the Six, which everyone had started calling Zander, Peter, Harrison, Helen, Daisy and Holly, met up and started discussing money.
"I'm just about out of money." Zander said.
"Me too." Helen said.
"I didn't have any money to start with." Holly confessed.
"Me neither." Daisy, Peter and Harrison said at the same time.
"We've got you covered."
They turned to see Hudson and Aria walking up to them. Hudson was twirling something bronze around his fingers. He held it out to Zander. It was two cards made of bronze.
"Take these, swipe them in the machine and don't question it."
"Wait, what?"
"Just trust us." Aria said. "It's not too uh..." She looked at Hudson. He shrugged.
"Illegal?"
"Right."
Zander gently took the card. "O-kay."
He looked at Helen who just raised her eyebrows.
"Aight." Harrison said. "It's a shopping episode then."
"What?"
"Don't worry about it."
They took Helen and Zander's cars into town. Terick and Parth went with them so they didn't look like a bunch of kids by themselves. Terick had to borrow some of Peter's clothes and a hat to cover his pointed ears. The boys took Parth and went to a mattress store, while the girls took Terick and went to Walmart.
"Alright." Zander said when he, Peter, Harrison and Parth were in the mattress store. "We should just find as many of the cheapest twin mattresses as we can and get out."
"Who says they have to be cheap?" Peter asked. "With that little card we can buy whatever we want."
"That sounds like trouble waiting to happen." Harrison argued. "I don't know what that card does, I don't want to know, but I don't think we should just use it for whatever we want willy nilly."
"Harrison, I totally agree." Zander said.
"Aye, there's wisdom in that to be sure." Parth said.
"We'll just keep it simple." Zander said. "We'll have to find mattresses that we can pack easily."
"Aight, fine then. Let's get this over with." Peter said.
Over at Walmart, the girls and Terick were getting groceries. Holly knew what it was like, buying for a large family, but even this was more than she was used to.
"Next time we should go to Costco." She said as they were going through the produce aisle.
"What's Costco?" Daisy asked, her winged snake wrapped around her neck.
"It's like Walmart, but instead of getting a bag of chicken nuggets, you get a barrel of them."
"Sweet."
"Daisy!" Helen hissed. "Put your snake away! Someone's gonna see it and freak out!"
"But Sir Slither likes lookin' around." Daisy complained.
"You named him, Sir Slither?" Holly questioned.
"He can look around later. Just hide him."
"Let me talk to him." Terick said. He leaned down and began talking to the snake.
"I'm sorry, little friend, but you need to hide for a little while... Oh do you really?... Alright, thank you for understanding... Yes, I'll tell her." Terick stood up straight again and the winged snake slipped down the back of Daisy's shirt.
"He said, roughly, that he understands the need to hide and that he actually likes the name Sir Slither. And he said he loves you, Daisy."
"Aww," Daisy patted her back. "Love you too bud."
"A snake said all of that?" Helen asked. Terick made a so-so gesture.
"Animals don't generally think in words the way we do, that's just a rough translation. And Sir Slither is a smart snake."
Both groups finished their shopping around noon and convened back at Olympus. Zander's little Honda Civic was stuffed full with rolled up mattresses, which he, Peter and Arian got work unloading.
Aubrey moseyed over to them, hands behind her back and a big smile on her face.
"Oh, Peter. I think there's someone here who'd like to see you."
"What?"
There was a flash of dark hair and a girl tackled Peter.
"Peter!"
"A-Ami?"
She looked up at him, eyes filled with tears.
"Hi!"
Peter wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, laughing. Then he set her down.
"What're you doin' here!?"
Amelia held up her wrist. On it was a bracelet just like the one on Peter's wrist, just a slightly different color.
"I'm Amphitrite."
Several emotions ran through Peter but he landed on saying,
"That's awesome!" Then hugged her again. "I'm glad you're here."
"So am I." Amelia said. "This trident is so cool!"
She held out her hand and her slender blue trident unfolded into it.
"Like, controlling water and the mind control singing is awesome, but breathing underwater!?"
"Ha-wh...what?"
"You can breathe underwater." Ami said, looking at Peter with both concern and expectation.
"Uh..."
"You haven't tried to breathe underwater!?"
"No! Why on earth would I ever just, try that!?"
"Uh, duh Peter!" Amelia said, rapping her knuckles on his skull. "They're tridents that give water powers, why wouldn't they let us breathe underwater!?"
"Hey, you two!" Arian called over. "Get a room!"
Before the lord and lady of the Sea could respond, there was a loud, blaring sound that echoed through the city. Everyone covered their ears.
"What is that!?" Amelia yelled.
"No idea!" Peter yelled back.
The sound stopped and Hudson's voice replaced it, only slightly quieter.
"Sorry everyone, new speaker system. But yeah that was a real alarm, everyone to the throne area."
"I'm gonna kick him off the edge." Peter said, digging a finger in his ear.
"Let's not let history repeat itself." Harrison said, starting to run. "Come on guys." He whistled and Cerberus joined him.
Within a minute, everyone was in the throne area, standing roughly where their thrones were, but not sitting. Hudson stepped forward, holding a tablet that they'd never seen before.
"Hudson, where did you get that?" Zander questioned.
"I made it."
"Dude," Asher said. "It's been like, two days, how have you made so much stuff?"
"Automatons, now shut up and listen!" He held out the tablet. On it was a video of a forest fire.
"This is about eight miles northeast from us. If you look you should see the smoke by now. And look what's caused it."
An orange dragon with yellow spikes passed through the screen, covering nearby trees in flames.
"An Orangetorch." Terick said, Morea holding his hand. "Pretty common fire dragon, shouldn't be a too big a problem."
"Alright, this is our problem now." Zander said. "Helen, get us up."
Helen sat on her throne and pulled the city into the air.
"I would prefer not to kill it if we don't have to." Zander said. "After all, it is just an animal." He looked at Terick. "They are animals, right?"
Terick shrugged. "They're magical animals."
"Right, either way, Ava you can talk to it right?"
"Uh... probably."
"Alright, here's the plan. Peter, I want you putting out the fire. Amelia, you up to it?"
"I can do it."
"Then both of you are on firefighting duty. Daisy and Daniel, I want you to use vines to try and pin down the dragon."
"Great," Daniel said, arms crossed. "Send the plant guys against the fire monster."
"You got it, boss!" Daisy exclaimed, putting an arm around Daniel.
"Helen will keep flying... oh, duh! Holly, you can control regular flames, right?"
Holly waved her hand smugly and dimmed the flames in the area.
"Si, hermano."
"Right, then you're with Peter and Amelia. Hudson, Aria and Aubrey, it's probably best you stay up here. Aubrey, I'm sorry-"
"Yes, yes, I'm not useful in this situation." Aubrey said, waving him off. "It's fine, don't worry about me."
"Okay, then everyone else will be down in the forest. Keep away from the fire, I know it gets dangerously hot around forest fires. If there's people who run out, help them as best you can."
"What if someone sees the city?" Harrison asked.
"I'm gonna try and work on that. Otherwise... it's a sacrifice we'll have to make. We'll be there in a couple minutes, get ready."
"I'll send my guys on the ground too." Daniel added.
Zander left and ran to Hudson's workshop. He grabbed the Four Winds gyroscopes and ran them to the edge of the city.
"Alright." He said, rubbing his hands together. "From what Hudson and Parth said, you guys should just listen to me."
He stretched out his hands and shot lightning from his finger tips. The electricity hit the gems and the gyroscopes began to spin.
"Just, hide us." Zander grunted as they spun faster and faster. "Just do what you're built for!"
Clouds began to pour out of the gems, then they shot out and began circling the city. Boreas and Notus chased each other over and under Olympus, while Eurus and Zephyrus sped around the edge of the city. The air around Olympus began to shimmer, which Zander took to be the illusion hiding the city now. He looked out and saw a column of smoke getting closer and closer. Zander lifted himself off the ground and flew back to the throne area.
"Alright, we're going!" He grabbed Ava around the waist and Henry picked up Holly by the shoulders. Daisy swung her scythe and a vine rose from her garden and shot down to the ground. Arian turned his spear into a billhook, hooked on the vine and slid down it as if it were a zip line. Peter grabbed Harrison and jumped off the edge of Olympus with Amelia. Water from a creek on the ground rose up and caught them, bringing them down safely. Daisy and Daniel grabbed Asher and they surfed down the vine, using more vines to steady themselves.
Amelia and Peter started pulling water from the creek and spraying it on the approaching flames. Henry dropped Holly and she held out her hands and started to bring the flames down.
Up above, the dragon swooped over the treetops and burned more trees. Daisy and Daniel grew vines that grasped the dragon's back legs and held it in place. Zander and Ava started to fly up to it, but the Orangetorch roared and blew fire at them.
"Whoa." Zander dodged the inferno and called down to Daniel and Daisy.
"Get its mouth closed!"
Daniel thrust up his thyrsus and grapevines shot up and began wrapping around the dragon's snout. It thrashed and swung its tail at the vines on its legs, but Daisy caught it with a tree before they were severed. The dragon's mouth snapped shut with a bloom of purple. Zander brought Ava and him down and landed on the dragon's back. Ava ran up to its head, kneeled down and started talking to it.
"Hey bud, you gotta stop burning things. People are gonna see you and they're gonna hunt you down!"
The dragon turned its head and rumbled in its throat. Ava's brows furrowed.
"What? You're not making any sense."
"What's it saying!?" Zander yelled over the roar of the flames below. Ava turned to look at him, concern deeply set on her face.
"He just keeps saying 'burn', over and over."
The dragon let out a moan and thrashed. The blood drained from Ava's face.
"Surprise. It said, 'surprise'."
There was a roar from down on the forest floor and two more dragons soared above the treetops. One was another Orangetorch, the other was a gray and red dragon with a long neck and horns.
"Crap!"
The gray dragon belched a jet of red flames at Zander and Ava. Zander swung his hand and called a wall of wind to block the fire. Ava pulled out her bow and drew an arrow as Zander picked her up. She released and a moonbeam shot through the gray dragon's chest. Zander flew her down to the ground.
"Stay here." Then he pulled out the Thunderbolt and shot towards the dragons.
Ava ran and found her brother.
"How's it going, Doofus?"
"It's really hot, Dumb Dumb." Asher said. "Some birds and deer have run out of the woods but no people."
"Let's move where the fire's spreading more."
They ran around the edge of the fire, where Holly was trying to tame the flames and Arian was standing watch. One of the dragons shot orange flames down into an unburned section of the forest and a small burst of wildlife ran out of the forest. A couple raccoons, lots of birds and several deer. A small shape ran out of the fire, squealing and hid behind Holly's legs.
"Que?" She looked down. It was a baby pig, brown, black and white striped, squealing in terror. She reached down and picked it up and it stopped squealing and snuggled into her.
"Aww, que lindo. But we are going to die."
She ran over to Arian and shoved the pig into his arms.
"Hold this."
Then she slammed her palms against the dirt and a section of the fire went out.
There was a crack, and a burning tree fell towards the twins. They dodged it easily, then heard what sounded like high pitched yaps. They looked into the fire and saw two moving shapes. One dark that slumped onto the ground and a light shape that stopped and nudged the other.
Asher and Ava looked at each other, nodded and they ran towards the fire.
"Holly!" Ava called back.
The lady of the Hearth held out her hand and quenched some of the flames nearest the running twins. Heat washed over them as Ava grabbed the white and silver ball of fluff and Asher grabbed the unconscious black one. They ran back out before the heat became too intense.
Ava looked down at her furry passenger. Many would see a white female puppy, but she could tell that it was a wolf pup. Asher jostled his black wolf pup.
"Hey buddy, don't give out on me. Here I am, this is me. There's nowhere else on earth I'd rather be."
As Asher's healing song reverberated around the pup and it squirmed, beginning to wake up. Holly lit her hand with golden flames and ran it along the pup's side. It woke and yapped before biting Asher's sleeve. Ava's pup whimpered and barked, which she understood to mean "brother".
The fire hissed as water sprayed over the burning trees. Peter and Amelia had come to their end of the fire. Holly relaxed and turned towards Arian, who was still holding the piglet, petting it gently as he watched the dying flames. Holly smiled and carefully took the pig into her arms, kissing its head.
Up above, Zander was fighting the dragons. The first dragon went down within the first few moments, a lightning bolt sending down to the forest floor. The second orange dragon dodged a couple shots of lightning before getting hit with one, which only stunned it. If Zander had to guess, the lightning bolts he shot from himself or the Thunderbolt had less voltage or current than real lightning from the sky. He threw a couple punches that sent bursts of air, hitting the dragon on the side of the head, then the jaw. Zander spun in the air sideways and wind slammed against the dragon, knocking it out of the sky. The gray dragon blew scarlet fire and Zander blocked it with wind, letting it pass by him. He returned with a shot from the Thunderbolt. It hit the dragon and it roared before charging him. Zander dodged and scratched the dragon with the Bolt. The dragon turned and opened its mouth.
"Hey, ugly!" Henry flew in front of the giant lizard, drawing its attention. Zander considered telling Henry off for putting himself in danger, but then decided it was better to utilize his distraction. He shot a giant bolt of lightning that hit the dragon. It shrieked and turned. Henry drew his new dwarven steel short sword and drove it into the back of the flying reptile's neck. The dragon roared and turned to snap at him. Zander fired another lightning bolt and the dragon shuddered before falling to the forest below.
Henry floated over next to him, looking down at the burning forest, which was beginning to go out.
Suddenly, there was a high, female laugh behind them. Henry and Zander whirled around and glimpsed a figure, maybe two? Right before they were engulfed in darkness and disappeared.
The flying boys looked at each other.
"What was that?" Henry asked.
"I... I think those might have been... bad guys."
"Cool... and bad. Very bad."
"Yeah... yeah. Let's just see how everything is down with the others."
They soared down where the ground crew were beginning to gather.
"Is everyone alright?" Zander asked when he dropped onto the dirt.
"Gideon got a little singed," Nebiri said, jerking her thumb at the satyr.
"Wow, thanks Biri." Gideon said, rolling his eyes.
"Everyone else is alright," Holly said. "But, I think we have some new friends." She held up her new pig.
Zander blinked. "Is that... a pig?"
"Mm, hm."
Harrison squinted at it. "That looks like a wild boar piglet."
"Yeah, it is." Ava said, still holding the white wolf pup.
Harrison and Zander did a double take.
"Is that a wolf?!" Harrison demanded. Zander noticed the wolf pup in Asher's arms.
"Asher, you have one too?!"
"Yeah. They were in the fire and we saved them."
Zander rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. "That's great guys, but we can't just keep wild animals."
"Daisy kept her snake." Asher argued.
"That's Sir Slither to you!"
"And they're babies!" Holly said. "We can't just abandon them."
"I... okay fine, whatever let's just-"
The bushes nearest them rustled suddenly and a blonde girl ran out, stumbling.
"Oop." She said when she saw the group of teenagers.
"H-hi. Is this where I'm supposed to be? I'm Penelope, I'm the new Persephone, I guess?"
Harrison went a little lightheaded.
"Oh."