Chasing Me Down

Chapter 4

(2 Years later)

Nicole POV:

Nicole was sprinting through the wood barefoot, dodging tree after tree and leaping over roots and shrubs, giving the occasional 'hello' to a passing tree nymph or animal. Her crisp short brown hair was bobbing up and down her face was grim, tight around the lips and her eyebrows scrunched together as the wind whipped unmercifully against her face, but she didn't let it slow her down, she sped up when she felt the familiar touch of cold stone under her feet and the moist essence of salt water and the slight trickle of rushing water flowing through her slightly pointed ears.

She poised herself before scrunching up her slim legs and releasing them, feeling herself soar above the ground, before landing on the other side of the small stream and continued sprinting into the thicket of the other side.

She didn't slow down until she felt the echo of her feet against the warm floors of a cave, her feet not once echoed against the slick walls of the cave, cutting through a corner to see a small fire and Leo fidgeting with some kind of miniature machine.

Nicole smiled to herself as she neared the fire, Leo had grown a lot in the past 2 years, they were finally at the same height and she was quite tall if she didn't say so herself, quite taller than most mortals in fact. He was still quite....lean, but it wasn't that noticeable for him to be classified as lanky. Over the years, Leo had worked day and night, even when Nicole had not been looking. She had found him one day in the dead of midnight slicing like a demon through a bundle of algos with his swords apergía  and prostatévo , his two weapons, with such skill that Nicole for once in her life felt needed, she later realized she was feeling how a mother would feel over her brilliant child. Hestia had also been kind enough to bless him with the power to travel through fire portals or emerge in any kind of fire since he always remembered to give offerings to the gods, and maybe even to her in particular.

Over the years they had come quite adjusted to a kind of routine. Whenever they reached a town or city, Leo would have his hair re-dyed, both of them would then get a job in the city, then after a month or so, they would leave with the money that they earned and shift to another village, far far away from the first one, never to return. They were somewhere near Vancouver at the moment.

"Hey Tia,"Leo said jolting her back to the present,"An aurae came by, she said she wanted to talk to you. She said it was something urgente. She told me to tell you that her lady wanted to talk to you and that you would know what to do," he was frowning but seemed occupied by the drone in his hand.

Nicole frowned glancing at Leo's bright hair,(whenever they had gone to a new city there was at least one time in a few months that the store didn't have the purple that Leo had worn, his was probably a few shades lighter than it as a month ago) before nodding and walking out of the cave taking out a small rectangular device from a pocket hidden securely from within her clothing and tapping it a few times before it flashed a brilliant ray of white light.

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After about an hour, Nicole had finally coaxed Leo into making a portal into Long Island. As they landed, Nicole shuddered. It was a lot chillier than she had thought it would be, even if it was almost winter, she could still sense the overpowering scent of power in the area. She had become accustomed to Leo's, it was a warm, comforting and friendly aura that surrounded him like a second skin making him likable as soon as you get to know him, but this place gave her the chills. 

As they trudged towards the border, Nicole was getting uneasier and uneasier by the second. She knew that she couldn't let Leo out of the covers of the forest. A chill crept through her spine as she crossed and her eyes widened at what she saw. All the trees, even the grass was frozen, she stared up at the ice-covered branches jolting around when she felt something burning cold, her eyes shone with grief and rage as she came face to face with the very horror-filled eyes of a frozen nymph, glowing icy blue in the dim light.

"Leo, over here," Leo walked over to her, narrowing his eyes at the frozen nymph.

"We cannot do anything for her unless we warm up her tree, but that might be what whoever did this wanted us to do. We must come back later Tia,"He said with a masked look, holding back whatever he was feeling behind them like a large brown dam. Nicole mentally frowned, he had perfected keeping his emotions hidden that even she couldn't detect them, that could never be a good thing with him, he was quite unpredictable.

They climbed over the hills making their way across the frost-covered floor and past frozen trees and nymphs. Nicole didn't like it, if everything was frozen, then why wasn't she seeing any of the monsters that were supposed to be here?

Nicole realized that she wasn't just getting closer and closer to the clearing but colder with every step she took. She wondered what it was like to be Leo right then, she always thought that he could never get cold, he had always shrugged whenever she asked, not even bothering to reply.

She squinted her eyes as they reached the clearing stiffening her shoulders when her sharp gaze met the stiff landscape. Nicole felt Leo stiffen beside her, what they were seeing was clearly bothering him.

Everything was frozen, the fields, a cluster of cabin-like buildings, basically everything, but that wasn't what was bothering her,

 Everywhere she looked, she saw frozen bodies. Most of them where satyrs and demigods 

Nicole glanced over at Leo just in time for her to see that he was taking steps towards the frozen landscape. She shot up and grabbed ahold of his sleeves and forced him towards her. She could feel him fighting him but she held on until he gave in a flopped down next to her.

"Why did you stop me?" he said turning towards her.

Nicole resisted herself from gasping and widening her eyes. His eyes were blazing, not literally, but they looked dangerous. His face was still as nonchalant as always, but he looked like he could kill.

"Sobrino," she tried to soothe him," you need to calm down."

Leo looked down, and Nicole saw some of the flames die down in his eyes. Not a lot of people could read Leo anymore, but Nicole managed to detect the devastation in his eyes. They seemed to darken and dull  as Nicole stared into them.

"You can't go Sobrino, it is too dangerous. Whoever did this wanted you here and to enter the clearing for their own purposes, I can feel the heavy magic surrounding the area, you must not bend to their will. The best you can do now is find who did this and reverse the curse."

She turned back towards the landscape," Do you know any of them?"

Leo nodded, gesturing towards a large building, as Nicole looked on she saw that there were two figures, one was a centaur and the other was a young girl with frizzy hair. She couldn't see their faces but suddenly felt a sense of dread settle over her, she had a feeling that they were as horrifyingly fearful as the face of the nymph they had encountered in the forest.

"Who are they?" she asked softly.

Leo sighed," The girl's Hazel, a xanagennithei imitheos, she is a daughter of Pluto, and that's Chiron, I think you might be familiar with that name."

She nodded," Yes, the lord of time's son. I have been around the time when Kronos ruled, I remember him very well. She tried not to put on a sour expression but she knew that Leo must have sensed it in her voice when he gave her a weird look. She grinned wryly, he wasn't about to let the old horsey foil her already crumbling mood.

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Hey everyone!  This is your author here. Some things that I would like to clear up:

algos/algae: are the daimones of pain and suffering---body and mind---grief, sorrow and distress. They are related to Oizys, the milder spirit of misery and sorrow, and Penthos, the god of mourning and lamentation.

apergía and prostatévo :strike and defend, they are Leo's two weapons. You'll see more of them later ;)

xanagennithei imitheos : means reborn demigod

Thanks to all of you that are reading.