Theives Like Us

24

Rocky stalagmites and stalagtights rose from the floor and fell from the ceiling, adding to the already eerie atmosphere the underground cavern had. It was hard to see much of anything and Crash knew there were small pools of water dripping from the rock formations above. He'd already trod in one of the puddles and he could already feel it seeping through his trainers.

"Are the demigod's in place?"

"Of course ma- ugh my lord. They may need a little more picking at but in all honesty, they pit themselves against each other straight away."

"And his rage is controlled? You have the triggers?"

"At times. I have his triggers, and I have something more important, his trust. If I tell him, he'll kill the girl in a heart beat. With no way for her to escape, it'll be perfect."

To Crash, the voices were distorted, making them distent but familiar at the same time. Crash was preparing to venture further into the cavern when a strong tugging on his gut stopped him, drawing him away from his dreams into the harshness that was his reality.

•~*~•~*~•~*~•~*~•

Rhyan had barely woken up and stretched when a large golden tortoise appeared from nowhere, sweeping her off her feet and carried her away. She was prepared to start shouting or even jump off, except it seemed familiar somehow, not only that but the tortoise was exptionally slow so she had no issue about being carted off to some unknown place in a hurry.

They were barely out of ear shot when the tortoise chucked her off and in a sea of bright light turned into a man. He was medium height with the build of someone who had been walking for hours, he had the face you'd find on the school clown before a prank was about to go down.
She'd seen it 100 times, the same smirk, the same cheeky glint in his eyes, the same nose. It was a familiar face- her face.

The man in front of her was Hermes, God of travellers and theives. Her father.

"I wanted to say good luck."

"Why would I need your luck now? I've been doing fine on my own." Rhyan spat back. Who was he to talk to her like he owned her? Like he'd done everything for her? No one. He hadn't even claimed her straight away.

"You're going to need it." The serious tone in his voice didn't suit him. It didn't match his face or anything she knew about him.

She swallowed deeply. "Thanks. Now if that's all-"

"It's not. I have a gift for you." Hermes held out a box. It was a basic white delivery box with a capital H.E. in a black circle. Hermes Express. Rhyan took the box and gave him a small smile. "Thanks dad."

He gave her a hard slap on the shoulder before grinning boyishly. "Square up Squrit." And he was gone.

Rhyan walked back, box tucked under arm. "Where have you been?" Crash asked packing their stuff up.

"Shopping." Rhyan smirked, jingling the box slowly.

"Hey man, what's in there?" Birch asked appearing from a behind random tree. Inside the plain box was a pair of nicely made red converse, or so they thought. Instead of the usual converse symbol, there was a H. "Ohhh a note."

"What's it say?" Crash asked and Rhyan shrugged handing it over to him.

The girl looked down clearly uncomfortable. "Not a clue. I can't read it..."

"Oh I'll read it." Crash vollenteared, chuckling to him self. "Thankfully, Dyslexia wasn't one of the things the gods gifted me with."

'Wish you could fly away from your demigod problems? Well now you can. Just utter the word  'Maia' and you'll be in the air.

Square up squirt- Dad x'

Rhyan looked at Crash expectantly. "Maia?Well what's that- Aghh!" Rhyan jumped and threw the box as strong white wings bust out the sides, flapping frantically. Birch's face fell but he quickly plastered a smile over it. Not only had Rhyan's dad heard her prayer, but he had granted her a gift. He was obviously paying some kind of attention, even if it wasn't a lot it was enough to make Birch cautious.

"Let's get going." Birch grumbled as Rhyan and Crash gushed over the gift. Crash couldn't help but feel a little jelous. Rhyan hadn't been claimed by her father very long ago, yet he was already sending her gifts. But Crash had been at CHB for over 8 years and hadn't gotten a single thing from his dad aside a foul temper.

•~*~•~*~•~*~•~*~•

The boys kept walking, while Rhyan practiced flying which was way harder than it sounds. Especially when every time she got a good few meters, Crash would unexpectedly mutter 'Maia' under his breath causing her to fall flat on her face.

"Crash! It's not funny!" The girl hissed, hauling herself from the ground for the fifth time as Birch snickered.

"You're right, it's not funny... It's halarious!" The boys burst out laughing as Rhyan opened her mouth to start argueing as a small movement caught her attention.

The girl was short for a 9 year old with grassy stains on her skirt and cute dimples. Brown hair framed her face and Rhyan knew that if the girl looked up she'd have the same pale blue eyes. "Come on Rhyan. Follow me!" The voice was exactly how she remembered Abby sounding when they were younger, although Rhyan had never seen Abby so young.

"Come on Rhyan, man. You're like getting left behind." Birch interrupted her thought proses, causing her attention to snap away. When she looked back, Abby was gone.

A/N- I've not really felt like my writing was good enough for a little while so I haven't done any, but I managed to finish this chapter that I started ages ago. Sorry it's short and I hope you like it.

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