"Riley won't."
"She doesn't have to. I'll do it."
"YOU will do it?" Riley rubs her eyes tiredly, the final hour is coming up and she must have fallen asleep. There's two voices in the main room, Blake and Felix.
"Yes, I will do it. I told Riley I'd help her so I will. Besides, the farther away she gets from Carver the better." Blake scoffs, the rocks beneath his feet crunching as he paces.
"And if this plan goes wrong or the gods decide to fail us all?" Riley climbs to her feet slowly and fixes her hair. She grabs her armor and accessories before leaving the room she'd been in with Felix.
"They might fail us but everyone knows you can't ignore the Oracle. They'll understand, probably." Blake sighs and looks over at Riley as she enters. Now that Blake's back does that mean they found Aeo?
"You sleep well? One hour left before the next phase of the challenge." She glances around, the twins are preparing with Verace, whose wound is already better. Felix is standing next to Blake but Aelius and Aeo aren't here.
"Yeah." She mutters. "Where's Aeo?" She massages her forehead, the throbbing pain of her migraine beating like drums on her brain.
"He's on the lower level with Aelius and Carver." Her eyes darted over to the stairs quickly and then over to Felix. The man's face is in a small scowl and his arms crossed over his chest.
"He won't go anywhere near you Riley. Felix told him about the plan and he agreed to keep his hands off." Why would Carver ever keep his word?
"He may not look it, but he does keep his word. It's one of the few things he cares about other than the typical crap." She nods slowly and walks closer to the group. After finishing with her outfit she pulls out her dagger and holds it in her hand firmly.
"So what's the plan then?" Aelius reaches into his bag and pulls out a big map that has the words: UNDERWORLD written at the top.
"The next location we'll be sent to happens to be in Los Angeles, it's where the gateway to the Underworld is at." It can't be just by lucky chance that the next location is exactly where she needs to go.
She takes a peak over his arm and looks at the map. It's really old and has the words, "ASPHODEL" in ink above one of the four main areas. The other three are: "TARTARUS", "ELYSIUM", and "FIELDS OF MOURNING".
Below the one that reads Asphodel are three smaller sections with their own locations and maps.
On the left are the big words, "DAMNED." on the right are the words, "REDEEMED." and in the middle of it all is, "LOST." The damned side is all ruined, very few passages visible or even able to be made out. That's the opposite of the Redeemed side, theirs is perfectly made; every single passage filled with details.
Then there's the lost. There's not a single thing written down besides the name. No passage, no ink marks, nothing. "How are we going to get there with a map that doesn't work?"
Blake points at some words written at the top. "THE WAY TO FIND THE LOST IS TO FIND YOURSELF."
"There is no direct passage. Asphodel was created to be a resting place for the neutral. The Lost isn't a place. It's a people." Riley snatches the map from him.
"That doesn't make sense. Don't talk in riddles." She flips it upside down and left and right. Blake sighs and looks at the opening of the alleyway.
"Riley's brain is too small to figure that out," Felix says with a sly grin on his face. She sends him a small glare before returning to the map. "I found the entrance. It's one of the old ways in so Hades shouldn't find out."
"What about Boe?" Riley pushes the map into Blake's chest and looks back at the stairs that lead down towards the other boys. The final hour is about to end so they all need to change into their human outfits soon.
"He's gonna stay in Olympus to try and calm the gods." They all make their way down and immediately her heart skips a beat. Aeo and Carver are both dressed in human clothes rather than the much fancier olympian fabric. They kinda look really nice.
Her eyes linger on Carver for a few seconds longer. He's wearing a white hoodie that has LOS ANGELES printed on the front and a city design on the back. Dark blue jeans cover his legs and a pair of really nice white converse on his feet.
He looks like a normal boy- if normal boys were built like greek gods straight out of a novel.
Aeo looks just as good though, he's wearing a baby blue jacket and a white undershirt with light blue ripped jeans and a gray pair of sneakers.
Although she'd never admit it out loud, they both look hella fine. She walks behind the center pillar and pulls her armor off to change into her own human clothes. It's been quite some time now since she'd worn a hoodie and maybe even a pair of shorts.
She almost forgot what it feels like to dress lazy. But lazy looks good and feels good. So it's totally worth looking like a slob- Sometimes.
Riley lifts her undershirt off and undoes her armor around her waist so she can remove her pants. Just as she sets the metal down, A warmth spreads around her back and across her stomach, the familiar touch of hands wrapping around her ribcage, skin to skin.
Instinctively she leans into the warmth. It feels really nice for some reason.
"Carver." Felix's voice makes her immediately pull out of the hold. She covers her chest and looks back to find the perv himself.
A scoff from the other side of the pillar brings a big smile to Carver's face. It sounded like Blake. "What can I say? You feel nice." He winks and moves back to the other side of the pillar.
Riley sighs deeply. She drags her hands over the spot he'd touched her. It's tingly and the warmth still burns into her skin. Part of her wishes Felix hadn't said anything. Part of her wants to yell at him and hate him for stopping Carver.
Riley shakes her head. It's the manipulation at work. She doesn't want Carver. Not like that. With one more sigh she finishes getting dressed. A red hoodie with white letters that spell out, "FREEDOM" across the front and on the back, "REBELLION" is spelled out. There's a few designs around them, albeit very basic ones.
She had a hard time choosing between shorts and pants. She ended up going with shorts because Olympians rarely were allowed to wear such revealing clothes- even though it's just shorts.
The black shorts aren't insanely short but they're short enough to look good under her baggy sweater. A pair of socks are folded up to her ankles and white high top converse on her feet.
It's incredible how the gods were able to get such nice clothes, it's all practically brand new.
Riley throws her hair up into a small ponytail and pulls out her baby hairs. She takes a deep breath and looks down at her clothes. She finally feels somewhat normal again. Maybe she could even trick herself into believing none of this had happened at all.
She knows that's not possible, but the hope is still there nonetheless. Riley walks around the pillar and once again her heart does a 360 degree flip. This time it isn't just Aeo and Carver dressed in human clothes.
They all are.
And by the gods-
Felix swings an arm around Riley's shoulder and with a smile on his face leans down to her ear. "I'll bet a hundred dollars you'll wake up in Blake's bed once we get back." He winks and moves towards the center pillar.
Riley's face lights up red but she still can't pull her eyes off Blake. He's wearing a black flannel that has a red outer line design and dark gray-almost black- jeans. His shoes are a matching red to the one on his shirt.
It's not the shirt, or the pants, or even the shoes that got Riley's full attention. It's the fact that his shirt is open...and there's nothing under it.
YOU ARE READING
Demi-God: The Lost
Historical FictionThe world of Gods and Titans isn't as simple as one might think. Two kids being thrown into a world so full of right and wrong, their own choices inevitably becoming that right or wrong. Everything isn't as black and white as Riley and Flynn had onc...
