Nostalgia: Heroes of Olympus

○ A R L E N E ○

I collapsed onto the cold hard ground, intense pain coming from my arm. I went to touch the damage, but all I felt was air. No, I thought. My eyes watered as I looked up, seeing my now dead arm fly into the sky. I screamed and red smoke rolled off of me. 

Here's a hint- don't make me upset. Angry? You might live. Upset?

Ha, Ha. No.

I swung my sword at the remaining 5 attackers, all who I couldn't remember. That's when I collapsed on the cold hard ground (OH!) and my vision was glazed.

My body decided to burst into flames- my arm included. I laid down, staring at the sky. All I could make out were Leo's wild curls. I heard mumbling voices and a loud BOOM shook Mount Everest. The sky suddenly went from it's pretty, flawless blue to a red, and it enveloped all I could see. 

I had lit the sky on fire. 

Oh great, do I get a trophy? Maybe a small medallion? Is that even an achievement?

Then it donned on me- the prophecy. The line where I set it on fire and then... And then...

"Arlene." I looked right above me to see Leo's stupid, adorable face, a mischievous (yet forced) smile spreading on his face. "You'll be okay, alright? Just look at me," he whispered. His hair now engulfed in flames, but I knew he'd be okay. Fire didn't bother him. Ha, I guess he'd be one to say "the flames never bothered me anyway..." 

Okay I'm sorry. 

I looked at his glowing chocolate eyes, now amber from reflecting the orange-red inferno around us. He looked up, and obviously noticing nobody could see his face, his smile went away. A small tear trickled down his cheek and sizzled against the heat. Blood pounded in my head, and I whispered. "Am I going to burn?" I asked. He bit his lip, looking me over innocently for signs of burns. "I don't think so, Birdie," he said quietly. I heard a laughter in the distance and I sobbed. I need the dark. I need the dark. Leo picked me up and held me, setting a hand on my back and one on my head. I only have one hand. Good thing I was ambidextrous, even if I chose to use my right hand. Leo was suddenly (and violently) pushed on top of me, his face hitting the side of my neck. He rolled off of me out of sight. "Silly girl," a voice snarled, kicking me over onto my stomach. It sounded oddly familiar, but I couldn't place these set of vocal cords with that evil tone. "You think you could stop me?" 

A name stuck out in my mind. 

I realized- Ouranos didn't have a body. That's exactly what he needed, something to give him a body. 

Have any spare body parts? I did. And it just went right into his domain. 

The blaze cleared away, and I saw remnants of my dad's snarling face staring down at me. His skin was tanned with green and red tones, like the sky at sunset. His usual-golden hair seemed a lot more orange and vibrant, like the sun. His eyes- a beautiful mix of a night blue with sparkles that must've represented stars stared down. 

This was not my father.

"I... Daddy..." my eyes widened at the defeated, female voice coming from behind him. "Rebecca... no," I whispered. My voice sounded mechanical, like my vocal cords suddenly became metallic strings to a guitar. I realized something was wrong about myself, but I didn't really care about it. A very strange feeling tear rolled down my cheek. I touched it, and felt it between my fingers. This is oil, I thought. I took deep, rapid breaths. "What is wrong with me," I said. My voice monotone, showing no emotion. I looked around- Leo was looking at me in a strange way. Like I was a machine. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!" I shouted. Still emotionless, but it was louder. More startling. Rebecca's eyes looked confused. "Nothing," she said. The Mist. "Oh there's something," Leo whispered. He was very still, rubbing his head. I growled, a humming sound coming from my throat. "I needed a body," was all he said. But that's impossible. I look like my dad. 

Then I realized- Ouranos was me, just as a male. If I looked a certain way, I saw curly blonde hair, a stern, wise face, but a familiar, bouncy body language. He was a mix of milky pale from me, and tan because of my father. I fell backwards. "Dad's okay!" Rebecca said happily. "But he'll only be okay if I go to Ouranos... I have to, Arly, I have to." "He is tricking you," I said. My thoughts became hard. My mind was swirling. My emotions became hard. I was looking at this in a more logical way. A thousand things rushed through my head. An encyclopedia among them. Rebecca's glazed eyes seemed to start clearing away. I felt my mouth open and I began to speak. My mouth stayed open- and didn't move. Like my teeth and mouth would muffle the speaker in my throat. I don't know what I said, but Rebecca's eyes cleared away. She looked furious when she realized what I was. "What did you do to her," she said. Her tone was deadly calm, indicating her anger levels were almost at full capacity. 80%, 87.895%, 94.6%, and they kept rapidly rising until it got to 100. 

Time to get out. 

I turned and grabbed Leo's tan forearm. My metallic arm lifted and he was brought to his plantar fascia. "Rebecca Chase anger levels at full capacity. Must evacuate area of a ten mile radius. Circumference sixty-two point eight miles," I said. He just looked at me, astonished. "You are one spanking hot robot," he smiled. "That is irrelevant," I replied. He guided his hand across my forehead first. "Is your brain in there? What's my name?" he asked. "Leo 'Hothead' Valdez, born August twenty-second, nineteen ninety eight. Mother is Esperanza Valdez, currently deceased. Father is Hephaestus." His mouth dropped. "Who are you?" he asked. I answered immediately, "I am program two-sixty. Code name, A R L E N E. Hardwired by Hephaestus to keep Arlene Delilah Chase, age sixteen, born January seventh, nineteen ninety eight, alive."