Son of Magic (Previously "The best HoO fan fiction ever")

Chapter 9

I woke up smelling the sea. Confused, I opened my eyes and looked around then down, realising I was holding Tal in my arms. We were in a small hotel room that seemed really old. We were covered by a quilt that matched the room. I blushed in realization we were both shirtless. (Did it count that Tal was shirtless if she had bandages across her abdomen? For the sake of our lives, let's go with no, it did not count)

Tal opened her eyes and did the same observation around the room I had just preformed. I slowly reached up and stroked her bangs across her bandaged forehead and out of her face. She looked up to me, "I'll let go when you want me to" I told her quietly. She reached up and gently laid her cold hand on my cheek, pushing my dark curls out of my eyes. "Not yet..." She said quietly. I nodded, letting her gently trace my facial features.

This felt nice...perfect almost....I hadn't felt this relaxed in weeks. Since waking up in the infirmary. No, before that. The night before. Was that really only four days ago? So much had happened since then.

"I think you look better with your glasses." Tal pulled me from my thoughts with a smile. Before I could respond to that, I heard a click and the hotel door opened. Grover came in. "Hey, you two are back from the dead. Welcome to Franklin, Illinois"

Franklin!

I was home! Back in my town!

Tal carefully sat up, wincing. The bandages across her body were bloody. "How long were we out?" She asks, looking around the room. " We need to be in Chicago by the twenty-third"

Grover bites his lip. "The evening of the twenty second. You both were out for three days" He says. "What?! We need to get to Chicago by dawn! Grover! Franklin is seven and a half hours away!" Talk snaps. I blinked, we lost the car, and we couldn't walk five hundred miles. "I have a way to get there....I think" I spoke up.

An hour later we were at my old house. I walked to the door and opened it, looking around. Everything was as I remembered it except for the stairs, the fifth one up was smashed in. The rest had glass and blood splattered across them. I walked forward, thoughts having yet to develop. I looked around, realizing there was a hole in the wall leading upstairs to my room.

"Elliot?" Tal asked, coming over to me. I had yet to realize I was sobbing, so much coming down at once. She stood in front of me and wiped my eyes. "Elliot, it's gonna be okay...these are just....old memories to get past" She looked at me, completely concerned. For some reason that made me angry. I slapped her hands away from my face.

"NO, TAL. I CAN'T GET PAST THESE MEMORIES. TOO MUCH HAPPENED HERE. THINGS I CAN'T FORGET. I GET THAT YOU'VE HAD A PERFECT LIFE FOR THREE HUNDRED YEARS, RUNNING AROUND SHOOTING DEER WITH YOUR GODDESS AND LADY FRIENDS BUT HERE IN THE REAL WORLD, WE HAVE PROBLEMS. PROBLEMS WE CAN'T FORGET. BROKEN PROMISES. ABUSIVE PARENTS. HURT. WE CAN'T FORGET EVERYTHING!" I screamed, losing it. Tal only stared at me, shaking slightly as tears gathered in her eyes.

"I don't have to help you, Elliot. I didn't have to leave the hunt for you. But I did. I can leave now, I can't go back to the hunt sure but I could find somewhere else. But for some reason, I'm still here. I'm helping you when really I have a ton of better things to do." She said calmly. And all I could think of to say was "And whose fault is it your still here?"

Talk stared at me. "Find your girlfriend yourself, Ryder. Go save the world by yourself. Because I'm done" She shoved past me and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

I stood there, processing what just happened. "Let's just grab the keys and get out of here" I muttered to Grover. My words were quickly followed by screams. Girl screams. Tal. I unsheathed my new sword and ran out, throwing open the door and looking around.

"TAL?!" I screamed, not seeing her. "ELLIOT! HELP!" Tal screamed loudly. I saw her thrashing in the arms of two men. They were both about seven feet tall, dressed in ripped clothing. I ran forward, glaring. "GET AWAY FROM HER! LEAVE HER ALONE!" I shouted, swinging my sword wildly.

I stared at the guys before realizing in terror they each had one eye. In the middle of their foreheads. One of them shoved Tal into the arms of the other. "Or what? You gonna preform a magic trick?" He asks in a deep voice. "M-Maybe!" I said strongly. The two started laughing, making me angrier. I just wanted to....to squeeze their throats till their eye popped out of their foreheads. But I couldn't actually do that.....one thing I could do though....

I raised my arms high and rolled up my sleeves. "Bruised eyes and broken heads! Evil lies and-"

The cyclopes both turned pale. "We're leaving! We're leaving!" They shouted, dropping Tal and running off. They ran about ten feet before there was a bright flash and the two disappeared out of thin air.

I ran to Tal who was wheezing on the ground. "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" I asked worriedly, hugging her tightly. Before I knew it, she was the one crying. Not me. She clung onto my jacket, body racking with sobs. I rubbed her back, singing softly.

I used to sing to the twins when Joan and James fought. It calmed them down. I don't know why the same instinct came over me when I had to calm Tal. I wasn't even sure if I was a good singer. Sure, I was in the school choir and such but that didn't qualify me as good, did it?

Once I got her to her feet and calmed, I looked around, slowly taking her hand as we started back to the house before Grover's cries for help hurried us up.