Hunter

Chapter Twenty Eight - The Ball Starts Rolling

My jaw slackened as my eyes widened. I was confused and in shock. I had never realized the possibilities as to how many Demigods there could be. It made sense, but I didn't want to believe it. It was quite simple, in fact: we were like our own race, except you couldn't tell the differences by just looking at us.

"How many are there?" I questioned with frustration.

"Why are you so surprised?"

"How many!"

"Hayley?" Dee asked, concern lacing her voice. I blinked furiously and shook my head. Clenching my teeth, I spoke.

"It doesn't matter. Let's get Jasper out of here." We twined our arms around his body to help bring Jasper to his feet. The look of pure rage had melted off his face, which cured my unease.

"So why do I want to kill that guy?" Jasper asked, looking like he was still in intense pain.

"He's a descendant of Hephaestus," Dee said, as though it explained everything. Jasper pushed out an understanding breath from his lips.

"I think I missed something."

"Athena has an extreme dislike for Hephaestus, as he tried to... uh, rape her once. As one of her descendants, I'm predisposed to dislike any of his descendants."

"Well, you need to get over it."

"You act like it's that easy."

"Well, make it that easy." Jasper pushed himself off of me, glaring into my soul.

"Hayley, what's your problem? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden."

"Like what?" He gestured one hand at me.

"Like you can just tell us what to do as if you own us."

"Because this is my search for my necklace, and you're the ones helping me!"

"Yes, we're helping you, and we can stop helping you if you keep acting like you're the gods' gift to mankind." I blew up.

"Go ahead then! It's not like you're of much use to me anyway!" I breathed heavily, watching the shocked looks on their faces. I felt no remorse or guilt for what I said. When they didn't respond, I stormed out of the room and out of the building.

* Ω *

I sat on the edge of the lake at Arcadia, a soft energy buzzing over my skin. The water touched my toes occasionally, sending soft chills up my spine. I rested my chin on my knees as I watched the waves dance before me. The gravel dug into my skin, keeping me eternally aware and from dozing off. The fall weather chilled my skin as the sun began to set. I had calmed down a little bit, but I was still confused. Not because Aiden was a Demigod, but because I was feeling empty. Or rather, I had no feeling at all.

I found no pleasure in doing what I normally did, and the only thing that I wanted to focus on was getting my necklace back and learning. I wanted to be better, stronger, smarter, but I couldn't do it all at once. I wanted to be the best so that no one could get hurt on my watch. I didn't want to let anybody down ever again, and to do that, I had to change. To be the best you can, you have to change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I couldn't tell which direction I was going in, and that was my problem.

Shutting my eyes and clearing my thoughts, I stuck my hand out and pulled a single stream of water out from the lake. It chilled my skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all up my arms and down my back. I held the water in the air before me and watched as I made it swirl. It radiated energy, power, and strength. I tossed the water back into the lake and stood, brushing the dirt from my skin. I meandered over to the fountain, dedication firm in my mind.

Once I had arrived, I sat with my legs crossed at started to meditate. In no time, Naomi was before me, her wavy hair cloaking her liquid appearance.

"Hiya! It's been awhile since I've seen you, and boy, do you seem stronger!"

"I feel stronger," I stated, not really sure where I was intending to take the conversation.

"I'm sure you must be curious about why you can't breathe underwater." Seeing as she wasn't wasting any time beating around the bush, I nodded my head, ready to get to it. "Well, I'm sure you know that you're not a fish, therefore, you do not have any gills, and gills are a necessity to breathe underwater. I know it seems kind of ridiculous, but you cannot breathe underwater because of that. However, what you can do is create air bubbles for yourself."

"Care to elaborate?"

"You would create your own type of gill by making a large bubble of space around your head and extracting oxygen from the surrounding water so that you can breathe."

"Sounds easy enough."

"It's actually quite difficult to distinguish between hydrogen and oxygen, so if you don't get it right, you could suffocate or drown!" Great.

"Would you like me to walk you through it? We can meet down at the lake."

"Sure," I breathed, brushing the dust off of my clothes. I had started to walk back when Dee called out to me. I glanced back, watching her running after me.

"Hayley," she panted, "I've been wanting to talk to you."

"Can we talk later?" I asked, a bit distracted. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Hayley, look, I'm sorry for whatever I may have done, but could you please just listen to me for one second!" I opened my mouth to respond but shut it just as quickly. Deidre isn't assertive, so when she demands attention, you give it to her.

 "I'm going to do it." My mouth tightened as I threw her a blank stare.

"Going to do what?"

"I'm going to Mindtravel to South Africa." I didn't say anything and patiently waited for her to explain. "Look, I've been practicing. This past week, I've gone to Alaska, Brazil, and then Tanzania. I've done it more than twice, each time I've mapped out the possible outcomes. I think I've figured it out well enough for me to actually go there without anything unplanned happening." 

And that's when I started to feel bad. That's when my chest felt like it was going to explode from love, regret, and guilt. I just watched her, disbelief a firm mask on my face. But she didn't look at me: her eyes were trained directly on her shoes.

She looked up at me eventually, waiting for me to say something... to say anything to her. She opened her mouth and hesitated, shutting it after only a moment. I glanced behind me at the lake the glistened in the sun. I wanted to say something, but a dull throbbing consumed the emotion that I had just recently felt. She should mind travel to South Africa because that is what her role is in this whole endeavor. So I shouldn't have to feel bad or regretful. It's just the way it should be.

"I've got to go." I turned and headed to the lake, feeling the hurt that she was feeling. 

I didn't dare look back. I just kept on walking.

________________________________________________________________________________

My Fellow Hunters,

Mood swings, don't we all have them! But Hayley's? I don't know about hers. Sometimes people change, and maybe this is one of those times. What do you guys think? Let me know, and I'll see you on Wednesday! (Hopefully, with the answer)

With Love,

-ABD