IF I'M LOUDER- Greek Mythology AU

CHAPTER 2 - Part I - Venus

The Van quickly sped off on the dirt roads, further and further away from the deteriorated house.

"Zac and Bella, everything okay there in the front?"

"Yup"

"Just dandy, Aaliyah" Retorted Bella with a bored tone, staring ahead, seeing nothing more than patches of grass and dirt.

"Well, sorry for asking, Bella"

"Tone it down girls, we have much more important things to discuss before that lady catches up with us." Shawn took a piece of crumpled paper out of his pocket along with a pen. "We have to organize ourselves and check our supplies. Let's see in the front." Shawn reached out and opened the small window separating them from the two seats at the cabin of the van "Guys, what do you have with you on?"

"Umm, I have some Snickers at the back of the van along with some soda cans." He quickly diverted his eyes out of the road as if looking for something "I have my sword, helmet and some clothes I managed to catch"

"I didn't really get much, I got a spear, please don't question my choice, I don't know why I got it either. Also, I grabbed a shield and some clothes"

"How did you manage to carry so many things?" Whispered Shawn to himself while writing everything down "Baz, look for the food Zac mentioned"

"Baz?" Questioned Balthasar in a mocking tone, while doing as Shawn ordered. " 's all here, there are some half-eaten cookies too and a couple of muffins"

Seemingly out of nowhere, the van veered to the side, entering the forest and leaving the road behind. The lights of the car turned off and Zac seemed unbothered, whilst the other panicked behind. The boy managed to avoid all the trees, following a barely noticeable path marked by small carvings on the tree. The van finally stopped and the trees gave way to a clearing, the opening was full of nature and different species as if they were the first humans to see it. In the middle, there was a lake and a small waterfall, with drops of water trailing down the massive rock behind the waterfall. With no previous warning, Zac jumped out of the vehicle and ushered everybody out. After making sure that everybody came out, Zac locked the van and darted towards the waterfall, carefully tip-toeing on the rocks that led to the waterfall, aware that if he fell to his side, the current would take him. As he stood in front of the water curtain, he put his foot out, letting it soak on the fresh water as if testing it. He nodded in approval, took two steps backwards, and with a final jump, he disappeared to the other side leaving no trail behind. He stuck his hand out to the other side of the waterfall and beckoned everyone over with a hand signal.

One by one, the kids jumped from rock to rock and into the waterfall, disappearing from the view of any wandering eyes that may pass by.

"You truly are full of secrets aren't you?" Exclaimed Shawn looking around, as he waited for the other kids to come in. Behind the waterfall, stood a cave, with pillows and blankets thrown-over all around. It was nothing much, it looked like a proper hangout place, and to everyone's surprise, there weren't any weapons nor weird technology. However, Shawn slowly started to approach the waterfall again, getting further away from the group. "Guys, I have to head out, I forgot my hammer and the paper I was taking the notes on"

"What are you, Thor?"

"Oh, shut up Aaliyah, my hammer's way cooler than your lousy bow and your bad excuse of a shield"

"Hey! It's an exact replica of Achilles' shield, it's awesome" To make her point, Aaliyah raised the shield, accidentally hitting Severus, who was planted right behind her. He scowled at her and quickly scurried off to where Zac was talking with an excited Ianthe. "Sorry"

"Yes, of course, whatever lets you sleep at night. Now, if you don't mind, I'm heading out"

"Can I come?" Questioned Balthasar while approaching his senior.

"Yeah, of course, kid, why not? I'm just going outside anyways"

The two of them crossed the waterfall and stepped carefully on the pebbles, sometimes slipping because of their wetness but quickly catching themselves right after. As they reached the land, they trotted towards the van and entered through the back. Balthasar tried to balance the heavy hammer in one hand and his pocketknife and the paper on the other, which resulted in a halfway-shredded paper and a hammer on his foot. As Balthasar jumped around the van, hopping on one foot hoping that would ease the pain, Balthasar caught a glimpse of colorful fabric in between the trees of the forest. He slowly approached the window while he tuned out Shawn's voice, who was too preoccupied reprimanding the younger in a concerned manner.

"Shawn-"

"How could you drop it on your foot? You could've caused a bruise,"

"Shawn-"

" You could've broken your foot, fractured it,"

"Shawn!"

"a Lisfranc injury, which could lead to a compartment syndrome, that's all serious Baz. You could've fallen and sprained your ankle-"

"Ok, ok, got it, noted, understood, got the idea. Now, before you interrupt me to say I could've gotten fooking foot cancer and died-"

"Well-"

"No, stop it. Look out the window for a second, it's important"

"What could be more important than your healing process-"

A loud squeal ripped through the air. They had heard that squeal enough times to recognize it. The sound of bushes being ruffled was heard from the van as both kids did their best to gather their things and alert their friends. The woman in the long green inviting dress glided toward them as if she was suspended in air, nothing filling her long wavy skirt. Her head cocked to the side when she caught sight of the van. Smelling the air, a strong scent of man cologne filled her nostrils. She detected no movement in her peripheral vision as she approached the van, and just as she had done at the house, she circled the van slowly, balancing her options, and choosing her attack strategy.