IF I'M LOUDER- Greek Mythology AU

CHAPTER 1- Part IV - Mercury

"So you just had magical flying shoes in your bedroom?" asked Shawn with a puzzled look on his face as he looked at the shoes in Aaliyah's hands.

"We didn't exactly have them...they just appeared in the fields" Pointed out Zac, shrinking into himself while Bellatrix still had a resented scowl on her face.

"Are you telling me you didn't question them?" Pressed Severus.

"Well Mr. I Question Everything, I'm sorry I was too occupied trying to fly in them"

"They fly?" Whispered an astonished Shawn.

"Jeez! What else did you think the wings were for, Shawn?" Retorted Aaliyah, absentmindedly playing with the drawstring of her pants, convinced it was the shoelaces of the winged sneakers.

Meanwhile, Ianthe and Balthasar had stolen the shoes from a distracted Aaliyah and were trying them on. Unexpectedly, the shoes started to move from one side of the room to the other, dragging a terrified Ianthe with them. Chaos had started and soon enough, everyone was running around, jumping on the sofas and tables, and chasing the shoes. Ianthe hadn't stopped screaming since the shoes started moving, they seemed to be following no pattern at all, but, without warning the shoes veered to the left and crashed against the window, leaving glass shards all over the living room and six shell-shocked teens behind.

All they could see was a little blurry spot that they could only assume was her. It was going at such speed, that they could not follow her, or even see her at moments. As they stood in the middle of the fields after minutes of running around trying to catch Ianthe, they saw the undefined figure come to a halt. Fearing that the girl could've smashed against the tree, they all sprinted towards her, and between various pants and silent prayers, they came to find Ianthe sitting down, staring confusedly at the shoes. "I swear the shoes just stopped"

Everybody stared at Ianthe as if she had two heads, looking towards the seas and then at the girl repeatedly, refusing to believe the statement.

"They simply....stopped" Balthasar, who, ironically, seemed to be the calmest of the group, voiced everybody's thoughts.

"Yeah, that's kind of what I just said" Retorted Ianthe, trying to pass off as confident even while being aware of her notoriously shaky voice. Ianthe did not move nor flinch, afraid that it would trigger the shoes to move again. For a couple of minutes, everybody stared at the now apparently calm shoes.

"Umm...guys." Everybody turned their heads towards a wide-eyed Balthasar "Look up"

"Oh my god, how could we not have noticed that before!" Screamed Aaliyah, which in a moment of weakness, hugged Shawn and frustratedly ran her hands through her hair.

"And I thought flying shoes were a problem. We are in a real pickle, I'm afraid". Stated Balthasar, while walking in circles around the tree feeling more distressed with each passing second.

"I mean, I'm not complaining....but what the hell are you talking about?" Everybody else seemed to agree with Shawn, not understanding what was so important about a clear, starry night

"Can't you see it? Mercury and Venus, in the middle of February, and very bright!" Exclaimed Ianthe in a frustrated manner, her hands making exaggerated movements as if to prove her point better.

"And that's a problem because..." Questioned Severus hesitantly, scared the little girl would lash out at him.

"How thick can you be? Venus is too close to the sun, we should not be able to see it, and definitely not easily. And Mercury is always difficult to see. It's never been this bright." Replied an annoyed Aaliyah, whose wit caused her to state the not-so-obvious as if it was crystal clear.

"Oh, but we were stargazing the other day. I don't think we saw this. After hours we would've seen it" A confused Zac looked towards her sister for reassurance on his statement, as Bella was nodding and opening her mouth to reply, a whimper came from the small boy that had been silent all throughout the conversation until this point.

"What's going on? There are all these strange things happening. Are they only happening to us? I'm scared" Muttered Balthasar, looking at the floor, hugging his own arms and shuffling his feet.

Shawn, reluctantly, released Aaliyah from his hold and hugged the whimpering and trembling boy. Even if he wouldn't admit it out loud, this young reckless boy warmed all the way into his heart. He calmed the boy down while everyone stared. Their shocked faces didn't come as a surprise, as even Aaliyah thought this was unusual. The older boy continued to stroke the younger boy's back, apparently not realizing the scrutinizing eyes directed at him. Once the boy was calm, in a silent manner and only slightly shaking or nodding their heads, they decided to go back to the house. The group stuck together, and as much as they wanted to talk about the day's events, everyone was too tired to even string one coherent sentence together. They gathered a bunch of pillows and blankets and messily threw them in a pile slipping quickly into an eventful sleep Even through heavy eyelids, no one could deny the admiration in Balthasar's eyes as he looked at Shawn, nor the fond smile Shawn had plastered on his face every time his eyes met the younger teen's eyes. Everyone was either too asleep to notice or they turned their backs when the two boys scurried downstairs together, no one even mentioned when both of them sat together in the backyard to look at the sky silently, too late into the night.