The Prophecies of Typhon: The Forbidden Quest (IN EDITING) (DISCONTINUED)

Second Time's a Charm? Ha-ha. Nope.

Courtney

We all froze and spun around. NC stood on the dock about ten meters away. Of course we would get caught again. Tyche was obviously not on our side. I could almost hear Jenny's eyes rolling at the absurdity of the situation. Sydney and Shayla went rigid. I threw my hands up in the air, sending a few bits of electricity sparking.

"Oh, for the love of Hera!" I said rather loudly, though in hindsight, that wasn't the best thing to do, considering we were supposed to be sneaking out in the middle of the night. I looked very pointedly at Sydney, mentally urging her to do the talking. It was probably best she was spokesperson, considering she had known him the longest. She stared back, as though asking what to say. I gave a deadpan look in return. She turned to NC, took a deep breath, and explained the situation.

"We need to go back to Mississippi to tell our parent where we are. We've been gone for a while and they're probably worried sick." NC looked about to interject when Shayla cut him off.

"We'll only be gone a week or so! Probably less!" She gave him a pleading look. The satyr looked us four over.

"Why's she going?" he asked, gesturing to Jenny. I glanced at her quickly, hoping her brain was faster than mine for coming up with an excuse.

"Guide," she said shortly with a quick raise of her hand. It was as good a lie as any. None of us actually had any clue why she had wanted to come.

NC didn't seem to buy into it, but he didn't question the topic further. He sighed and crossed his arms. "I don't like the idea of you guys going off without telling anyone."

"Well if we did, d'you really think they would let us? Sydney asked Jason in a more hypothetical sense and he was one hundred percent certain it was a bad idea." I raised my eyebrows. "Telling people wasn't exactly an option." He looked a little hurt.

Sydney stepped in. "We're sorry we didn't tell you, but we need to do this. Promise you won't tell anyone?"

He opened his mouth, thought better of his words, then spoke again. "I'll keep your secret on one condition. I have to go with you to Mississippi."

"Deal," I said quickly. We all hopped in the lifeboat and Shayla began moving it through the water.

I began to feel a bit queasy. Not from seasickness, but more like a gut feeling that I was in a place I shouldn't be. I looked over the group. Sydney and NC looked indifferent, Shayla looked like she was having a blast, and Jenny looked like she wanted to vomit. I realized that she and I felt this way because we weren't in our parents domains. The water was ruled by Poseidon, which explained Shayla's comfort and the sick feeling I was experiencing.

"Shayla?" I asked. "Can we fly this thing instead of using it as an actual boat? It's a little slow and I'm starting to feel a bit sick." Jenny raised her head. Her face had gone more pale than usual. She had tucked her knees to her chest, curling herself into a ball.

"I, personally, am not fond of either, but if we get to Mississippi faster by air, that's where my vote lands."

Shayla deflated a little, but complied. After pressing a few buttons, she let me take charge. I whipped up a good current, and soon we were soaring above the city. My nausea went away as soon as we were in the air. Shayla helped me put the lifeboat in cruise control so I could take a break from being in charge of wind management. I sat down next to Shayla, who looked very on edge.

"You okay?" I whispered to her. She shrugged.

"I suppose. It's probably just being in the air." She gave a weak smile. "I just hope mum and dad are okay."

"They'll be fine," I reassured her. "And we'll be back at camp in a few days, so you won't miss Connor too much," I smirked and nudged her. She laughed and shoved me lightly, but her cheeks went red at the mention of the son of Hermes.

After a while of sitting and doing nothing, I began to get hungry. I opened my bag and pulled out a blue Otter Pop I kept with a bunch of ice packs. I was absolutely addicted to these things, along with Pixy Stix and Skittles. I've had Skittles before, but never Otter Pops or Pixy Stix. Two more food items in America that were strangely good. Sydney looked at me and grinned.

"Where'd you find those?" she asked. I shrugged and sucked up some of the syrup from the bottom.

"I don't know. Want one?" She nodded vigorously. Everyone else looked up, like they expected one as well. "Fine, you can all have one." I pulled out the box with the popsicles inside and set it in the middle of our circle. Everyone grabbed one, even NC. Several Otter Pops later, I began laughing hysterically for no apparent reason. Everyone looked at me like I was insane, which only made me laugh harder. I ended up falling on my back and whacking my head against the floor. Shayla and Sydney had started to giggle and even Jenny was smiling. NC just looked extremely concerned for all of our sanities. He was probably immune to sugar. I sat up, grinning stupidly, and grabbed another Otter Pop, making this my fourth or fifth one in less than an hour. NC tried to snatch it away from me, but I pulled it towards me and out of his reach.

"Here's to getting tipsy on sugar!" I said with a laugh, downing the popsicle quickly. In a mere ten minutes, every single Otter Pop had been devoured. The next things to go were Pixy Stix. I had at least fifty to begin with, and ended up eating roughly twenty-five myself. The left side of my head throbbed with the sugar overdose and I was starting to zone out.

I should not have eaten that many Pixy Stix, I thought to myself. No more sugar for a week.

And then Shayla brought out the Skittles.

"Ugh, Shayla," I whined. "You know I act like I'm on crack when I eat those, and I'm already on a sugar high!" She grinned mischievously and handed me a few. I took them and, against my better judgement, ate them all at once. I gave Shayla a sideways glance. "If I die of a sugar overdose, it's on your conscience," I told her. She just smiled and popped a handful of the candy in her mouth.

"You know, we're probably getting close to Mississippi," NC said. He seemed to be the only one not drunk on candy. Jenny had crashed about an hour earlier and was now asleep. Sydney and Shayla looked exhausted, and I was feeling ready to collapse and a headache pulsed in my temples. He looked at all of us, and seeing our hungover state, stood up to keep watch. "I'll let you guys know when we get there," he said. I nodded, then laid down and drifted off to sleep.