The Daughter Of Olympus

Chapter 11: Unexpected Wake Up Call

"How are you the child of a god?!" Nico exclaimed in frustration.

Zan had been trying to raise the dead for a good three hours now. Unfortunately, it appeared that she wasn't very talented at it. At one point she had risen a knee cap but that was the extent to what she had managed to do. Inez had given up on helping and went to read her book on the bleachers. Nico, on the other hand, seemed to really be trying to get this over with.

"Gods, Nico. The child of gods." Zan corrected, "It's harder for me to channel!"

"Right. Sorry." he sighed, "Maybe raising the dead just isn't your thing."

Zan nodded, how could she raise the dead if she couldn't do it after three hours? She plopped down onto the floor. She didn't realize how tired she was. Even the dirt felt comfortable. She felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up. Inez smiled down at her.

"You just have to keep trying. It'll take you way longer than it took us, but just imagine how much easier it'll be to control your other powers after you've mastered one!" She chimed. For a child of Hades, Inez was probably the most positive person Zan had ever met. She smiled and stood up.

"You're right. I can do this." She said confidently.

"You could try yelling what you're trying to do." Inez offered.

"Why would I do that?" Zan asked. Wouldn't that give away the surprise of attack?

"I heard it helps, people in anime shows do it all the time. Once you get used to it then maybe you can try it without saying anything." She said.

"Anime?" Zan pondered, "What's that?"

"You don't know what anime is?" Inez asked, her eyes widening. Zan shook her head, embarrassed.

"Well, when all this is over, you have to look up Ouran High School, Fairy Tail, Black Butler and Attack on Titan." Inez commanded.

"And Angel Beats!" Nico interjected. Zan and Inez stared at him.

"What? I get bored and require entertainment just like everyone else." He grumbled. Inez grinned and patted her brother's shoulder. She turned back to Zan.

"Anyway... Go ahead and try it. Epically raise the dead for us." She said. Zan nodded.

Focus all of your energy on your core and get ready to let it loose! Ares's voice chimed in. There was a brief silence, nevermind, don't do that. It sounds like I'm teaching you how to fart. Ha-ha.

Zan shook her head, wondering how the god of war could so closely resemble a 12-year-old. She started to channel. She imagined the essence of Hades. Skulls, bones, jewels... dirt. It was unpleasant but if this was a good way to channel then so be it. Zan felt her hands become warmer. She raised them and cleared her throat.

"Servants of Hades, rise!" She yelled confidently. The ground started to rumble, dirt slid off from the walls, and pebbles bounced around like Mexican jumping beans. Then, it was completely silent. She awkwardly stood in the middle of the huge Colosseum with her hands raised. Suddenly a small white disk raised from the earth. It was the other knee cap. Nico and Inez simultaneously face palmed from the bleachers.

"It's ok, Zan, not everyone is meant to raise the dead." Inez called.

How could she not be meant to? She saw Hades himself at her one week birthday party- there was no way she wasn't meant to. Unless she was a failed experiment- but that's not possible. Just as she started to doubt herself her hand started to burn. It felt like she cut her finger and accidently put hand sanitizer on it- except it was all over her palm and slowly engulfing her hand. Her eyes widened.

"OH MY GODS, IT BURNS!" She yelled, waving her hands around frantically. Inez and Nico jumped down from the bleachers and ran to her aid.

"What's wrong? What burns? What's going on?" Inez asked frantically.

"I THINK MY HAND IS ENGULFED IN INVISIBLE FIRE!" Zan agonized.

"Zan, you're holding in Hades's powers! You have let it go!" Nico commanded.

"HOW?"

COMMANNNNDDD, Ares yelled in her head, adding to the chaos. Zan took a deep breath.

"WAAAAKKKE UPPPPPPPPP!" She roared. The heat from her hands moved up her body and out of her mouth, leaving the slight feeling of heartburn, nausea, and dizziness.

The ground started to split open as beings from beyond started to crawl out. Men wearing Roman armour made their way to the dirt. The armour on them was full of holes and bite marks, exposing their rotting flesh.

"You woke up... Romans...?" Inez gasped in disbelief.

"You're greek, aren't you? How did you wake up Roman dead?" Nico asked, gaping at the army of dead lining up. Zan shrugged, still trying to get over the dizziness. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Uh... Why don't you tell them to go back to sleep?" Inez asked as the army blankly stared at the three of them.

"Good idea." Zan said groggily, "Go to sleep."

The army continued their staring, the most movement from them was one of their heads falling off. Zan blinked a few times. Why wasn't it working? Was it a one time thing?

"Go to sleep." She said again, this time more firmly.

"Why aren't they listening? Zan, I think you might have to do that thing you did before." Inez said.

"All of that pain? Again? I don't know..." Zan trailed off. She hadn't enjoyed that experience at all. She sighed. It was her fault so she might as well fix it.

Zan focused all of her energy once again in the same manner as before, only this time- nothing happened. Her hands didn't warm up and she wasn't even experiencing nausea. She tried harder, forcing everything she had. Still nothing.

"I think I'm broken." Zan breathed, starting to panic. Oooh, looks like someone's out of juice, Ares sang.

"What's wrong?" Inez asked, putting her hand on Zan's forehead.

"My... Um... Powers aren't working." She replied.

"It's ok. I'll go get Sophrosyne, she'll probably know what to do."

Nico ran off past the army to get Sophrosyne.

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"Goodness they were a tough bunch to handle!" Sophrosyne huffed, "Just because I'm greek doesn't mean they shouldn't listen to me. I am a goddess after all."

Sophrosyne glided near the the three demigods who were on the bleachers. Zan, Nico, and Inez had fallen asleep in the four hours that it took Sophrosyne to convince the dead to go back to where they came from. Zan had been the first one to fall asleep, seeing that worrying about her gift being gone had knocked her out cold.

"Goodness, that adrenaline really wore off fast, hm?" Sophrosyne asked the sleeping teens. She smiled.

"Sleep well, you'll have a lot to worry about tomorrow."