DEMIS (A Clash With Lightning)

15

After the night passed, the demigods could be found scattered around the large sailboat. Some spent their time resting, others relentlessly training, and one, in particular, was testing out her new armor and discovering the extent of her newfound power.

"I just can't even believe how this is possible," Jasmine said, staring at Rose's tiny body on the table.

Rose grinned. She was testing to see just how small she could shrink. She was currently about the size of a mouse. This seemed to be her limit without it being too much strain on her physically.

"I bet I could go smaller," she said confidently.

"I don't doubt it," Jasmine replied, imagining Rose at the size of a beetle. "But you shouldn't overexert yourself. The people on the Island of the Lotus Eaters should be docile, but you can never be too prepared."

Rose sighed. She knew Jasmine was right, but she desperately wanted to prove her worth to the team. She felt like she had drastically fallen behind her teammates and was feeling more than a little insecure in her position in the group. What if they started to think of her as a burden rather than an asset?

"What's wrong?" Jasmine folded her hands and rested her head on top of the table next to Rose. "I can tell you're upset."

"It's nothing, really." Rose forced the smile back onto her face. She jumped off the table and transformed back to her original size midair, allowing her feet to hit the ground gracefully.

Jasmine bit back her praise. She didn't want to come across as a suck-up. Still, she couldn't help but smile. Sure, their situation was quite extreme since the fate of the world rested on their shoulders, but she secretly felt happy because she loved feeling powerful and being surrounded by powerful people.

"I was just thinking about how big I could get. Maybe if I work hard enough, I could shapeshift to look like other people. I want to be able to change my appearance completely, like my mother can," Rose continued.

"I know you can do it," Jasmine said. "I need to practice more with the water. I'm nowhere near strong enough."

"What?" Rose's mouth dropped in disbelief. "You are easily the strongest member of the team."

"Thanks." Jasmine smiled. She didn't disagree, but she still wasn't satisfied with where she was. "As for practicing how big you can get, let's wait until we reach land. The last thing we need is the boat capsizing in the middle of the ocean with all our food and supplies."

"Of course." Rose laughed.

"I can't believe we've defeated a cyclops," Jasmine sighed in awe. "I honestly thought we might have failed."

Rose tried her best to hide her disappointment at the conversation choice. She hated thinking about her performance during the fight. She put on another smile. "Yes, everyone was seriously amazing. I do feel bad that we left a little kid cyclops without a mother."

"That little monster was trying to eat us," Jasmine scoffed. "He's lucky we didn't stick around to take care of him too."

"Yeah, I guess so." Rose shrugged her shoulders. "I still feel bad."

"You're so soft-hearted," Jasmine observed.

"I can't help it." Rose crossed her arms. "It's the power of love inside me."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing," Jasmine defended. "Actually, Rose, I wanna ask you something."

Rose took the chair next to Jasmine. "What is it?"

"What did you think of Alexander?" she questioned. "You know, when we met him at the restaurant?"

Rose gritted her teeth as she thought back to the day they met Alexander. "Well, he is obviously very arrogant, for one."

Jasmine nodded for her to continue.

"If I'm honest, it bothered me a lot that he refused to acknowledge Josh, Keith, and me," she went on. "But he's also scary. I felt his power sucking up the air in the room like a vacuum. It was suffocating."

"Do you think we can handle him?" Jasmine asked.

"Hell no." Rose couldn't believe the question. "Not in our current state."

"I meant eventually," Jasmine reiterated.

"Maybe." Rose thought about it. "I really hope we can."

"Why do you ask?" Rose questioned. "Are you feeling anxious?"

"A little," Jasmine admitted. "He just is so blinded by his rage. I could see it in his eyes. He really would do anything to have his revenge on Olympus. That is dangerous."

Rose grabbed Jasmine's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We will only get stronger from here."

Jasmine smiled before giving her hand a squeeze back.

"I just can't stop thinking about him," Jasmine admitted.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked her.

"Promise me that you won't judge me." Jasmine stared at her seriously.

Rose frowned. "I have a feeling I know where this is going. I make no promises not to judge."

Jasmine paused for a moment, hesitating on whether or not to continue. "Promise this stays between us, then."

"Okay. I promise I won't tell a soul." Rose held her hand up as she swore.

"Alright." Jasmine felt her cheeks heat up. "I think he's handsome," she admitted.

Rose laughed hysterically. Jasmine's face began to turn a bright shade of red, and she gritted her teeth. She shouldn't have said anything. Rose wiped a tear from her eye.

"Gods, Jasmine." She wheezed. "I haven't had a good laugh in a minute."

"Why is that so funny?" Jasmine asked.

"I agree." Rose shrugged her shoulders. "He is handsome. You made it seem like you had fallen for him at first sight, though. I expected a bigger confession than that."

"Isn't finding the enemy attractive wrong?" Jasmine questioned.

"You can't help what catches the eye," she said. "But you can't let infatuation blind you when the time comes."

"I would never do that!" Jasmine slammed her fist on the table.

Rose held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay."

"Sorry." Jasmine rubbed her temples. "I just have never seen someone so handsome."

"I wouldn't go that far," Rose argued. "He was handsome, sure, but I've definitely seen better."

"Who have you seen that's better than a demigod of Zeus?" Jasmine raised her eyebrow.

Rose's cheeks turned a shade of pink before she looked away. "No one that I can think of," she lied.

Jasmine could tell she was lying because she noticed that Rose scrunched her nose when she lied. She decided not to press further. Their friendship was just blossoming, and she didn't want to scare her away.

It felt good to just be girls and have conversations about boys that didn't truly matter. They had seen so many horrifying things in the past three days—things that would plague them with nightmares for the rest of their lives. It was nice to be able to just distract themselves and act like schoolgirls, even if just for a moment.