DEMIS (A Clash With Lightning)

12

The night ended, and a new day began. No one was brave enough to admit it, but they were all terrified of what awaited them on the island. The group sat around the table in the kitchen, eating breakfast and discussing their plans for the day once again. The sounds of bacon frying in the pan and waves crashing outside were the only other noises besides their voices.

"I'm feeling pretty confident," Rose said, wiping her palms on her pants. "If we can take out that...thing in the colosseum, then we can take down anything."

"Cyclopes are a lot bigger than that monster was," Ban countered.

Rose rolled her eyes. Why did he insist on being so negative all the time? What was wrong with having a little bit of confidence?

"Once we get my mother's armor, I'll be able to grow and shrink to extreme sizes!" Rose chose to ignore Ban's comment, and he scoffed in response. "If we can find my armor without the cyclops finding us first, then fighting them will be a piece of cake for me! I'll be able to match their size and strength. Maybe even become bigger or stronger!"

"Yes, that would definitely be the most ideal plan," Jasmine said. "But we need to be prepared in case things go south. Rose, the last thing I want to do is make you feel like you're useless, but we know your manipulation powers won't work on monsters. So, if we run into a cyclops before finding your armor, you'll need to stay back."

Rose smiled weakly. Part of her felt embarrassed that her powers were more mental than physical. Just because her abilities weren't suited for this specific mission didn't mean they wouldn't be useful in the future. That's what she kept telling herself. In truth, though, she was feeling a bit insecure. She was the only one of the group who could already use her powers, but she felt like everyone else was surpassing her. She wanted to feel like the strongest—even if just for a little while longer.

"Of course," she chirped, forcing a happy smile to hide her true feelings. She knew Jasmine didn't mean it personally, but it still hurt, no matter how true it was. She just hoped they would find her armor so she'd be better equipped to fight. She made a mental note to train harder physically.

They felt the boat shake violently before it stopped moving altogether. They rushed up to the deck to see that they had washed up on the shore of an island. It was nothing like the island Hecate had dropped them on when they first began training. This island looked more like a wasteland. The sand on the shore was a dark grey, and the nearby greenery—if you could even call it that—was withering away and rotting. Random wooden boat pieces were scattered around the shore as well, no doubt left behind by the cyclops' previous victims. The air smelled of rotting flesh and dead fish.

Keith gagged. "That's putrid," he complained. "I'm gonna be sick."

"You have a weak stomach," Ban pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Thank you for your sharp insight, Ban," Keith rolled his eyes. "What would we do without you on the team?"

Ban ignored the comment, then tossed himself over the edge of the boat, landing in the sand below and deciding to take the lead.

"Hopefully, we get used to the smell quickly," Jasmine said, following Ban. "It really is disgusting."

Keith, Rose, and Jasmine quickly followed, and they began traveling along the shore.

"It's a lot quieter than I expected," Josh observed. "I guess I just assumed cyclopes were loud and rambunctious."

"Agreed," Jasmine's voice wavered. The silence was actually quite nerve-wracking. Did the cyclopes know they were here? Were they spying on them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike? "Stay on guard. They might be watching us."