Crossroads of Two Worlds

34- One Adventure Leads to Another

Maya threw her knife into the chest of one of the grim reaper things and it exploded into black dust that seeped through the floorboards.

I looked at her and she shrugged, "Hades wanted them back, he'll get them back. They've got nowhere else to go now but back to his realm."

Fair enough.

We'd walked into the old wooden building with our weapons at the ready, but I hadn't expected all of the black-clad ghosts to be in the first room we stepped into. It looked like some sort of cult meeting and we were the party crashers. Did people crash parties anymore? And did this even count as a party? Whatever.

They didn't give us a chance to even realize that they were there before they started attacking us. It seemed like they were really trying to do the same thing that they did to the people they took... the people they killed.

So I launched my plan of attack. Which was just that, attack. And it worked. Kind of... for a while at least.

Before I knew it, there was only one of them left. It was bigger than the rest and had an actual weapon, like a blade that was curved on the end. It looked deadly, to say the least.

But he spoke to me instead of attacking, which I guess, showed some sign of intelligence.

"Child of lightning, you are a worthy opponent, but you shall not win."

I stared him down, "Why shall I not win? Your army is dead, I think that puts me at a bit of an advantage, Mr. Reaper."

"You have won this battle but you will not win the war. Greater powers will come for you. Consider this warning my last act of mercy towards you."

Adrian stepped up to me side, "Your last act of mercy? You have not acted mercifully at all before this!"

"You shall not win."

At that, he self-destructed, exploding into a blacker, thicker mess that didn't disappear when it fell to the floor.

I looked behind me at Maya, but she just shrugged, as confused looked adorning her face.

I sighed and sheathed my swords, "Well, mission complete, I guess. We best get back to camp."

...............

There was a huge party, including yet another bonfire, when we got back to camp. We told Chiron about the quest and he too, seemed both worried and confused. We continued training and I even started to learn French from Noah, who I'd given crap to for not telling me that his sister was a witch. He claimed that he didn't know until after I left. Whatever.

But as the time went on, and September first grew closer, I became more and more eager for Quidditch, magic, and just to see my friends. So when my letter came, a large barn owl dropping it off, I squealed loud enough for the whole camp to hear.

I got permission to take a friend to shop in Diagonal Alley with me, and Maya readily volunteered for the adventure.

August 3rd

12:58 PM

"So you just... wave it around and say some Latin... and magic happens?"

I was about to argue, but after a moment of thought, "I guess, yeah."

I had brought Maya to Diagon Alley by Flu, which she also thought was amazing. I hadn't realized how such things had become oddly normal to me in the past year.

We hadn't yet exited the Leaky Cauldron, still busy brushing off our clothes from the door of the fireplace.

"Ugh! I really need to learn that cleaning spell."