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Basehor, Kansas
2018, AD
7:50 pm
"I still can't believe you never told me you were a superhero," Eddie watched in amazement as the monster faded away, "Imagine all of the times you could have cooked my mac n cheese at lunch so I wouldn't have had to wait in that ridiculously long line!"
"Now is not the time, Eddie," He replied hustling around Kai's house. At one point the boys' gaze met Kai's. Shortly after Mino quickly turned his head away in frustration and continued looking for any more lurking threats alongside Pythia.
"This is the perfect time!"
"You shut her up or I will!" Pythia commanded in a low, threatening tone.
"No, you shut up!" Eddie countered.
"Eddie!" Mino glared at one of his only friends not caring about her feelings and instead caring about her safety. Eddie usually didn't take his comments to heart yet she still found herself self consciously gripping the small silver raven, that looked oddly similar to Kai's drawing, hanging from her neck. The necklace belonged to her Mother. She gave it to her weeks before deciding Eddie wasn't good enough and left.
"Mino, do you know the whereabouts of the last three?"
"Helani will be in charge of getting the Apollo girl, and Kai," He paused to look at him, "is Elly's friend."
"What about Artemis?" Pythia asked with a gentle smile as her amber eyes softened at the mere memories of kisses long forgotten. Hope filled up her callous heart as the woman who wouldn't believe her lies and only accepted her truth filled up her mind.
"Aaron is M.I.A," He met her slowly hardening gaze, "I'm sorry."
Once again she smiled a gentle smile, but this time something was different. Her mouth smiled and yet her eyes did not. This was the most recognizable version of Pythia.
"Artemis, or Aaron as you spoke of, will be protected under the glow of the moon," She pulled her cloak off and handed it to Kai, "This shall keep you safe. Go to your friend," She looked at Mino who mouthed a name to her, "Airy."
Kai nodded understanding what she meant to say. He was hesitant but still headed out the big wooden door. Helani watched as he exited to make sure he put Pythia's cloak on.
"Let's hope the Chimera's focus more on Eddie and Mino's scent instead of his," She stated, more to herself than the others.
"Whatever. Helani you remember what we discussed, right?" Mino asked.
"Text Nalani to lock all doors and windows and wait in her room until I text her otherwise."
"Wow, one of you is actually smart. What a relief."
"I believe the term you're looking for is shocking." She smirked. Mino sighed in slight disappointment.
"Go before I change my mind about you." He joked. Without hesitation, she quickly took her phone out of her back jean pocket and exited through the back door.
"Is now an okay time?" Eddie piped up from her awkward state. Pythia roller her eyes and nodded her head at Mino.
"Yeah," He concluded, "Let's talk. All of us."
"All of us?" Pythia asked looking for clarification, "You mean the two of you, no?"
"I mean the three of us, yes." Eddie laughed at Mino's reply. He took Eddie's fidgeting hand in his own and led her toward the living room's sofa. Pythia stood still in the kitchen. Mino opened his mouth to say something but was quickly shot down.
"Don't speak out against me, boy. I can talk just fine from here."
"Hey, I wasn't going to say anything," He put his hands up in defense. Pythia rolled her eyes. "Now are you going to explain or should I?"
"As much as I do not wish to speak I know you will tell the tale wrongly," She smirked, "So you can relax and try to appear pretty for once in your life." Eddie and her rapidly bouncing legs waited as patiently as they could for Pythia to start.
"You've heard of Greek Gods?" Pythia asked receiving an eager nod from Eddie.
"Of course I have! I love Greek Mythology."
Pythia scoffed at the girl's words. The ignorance of people always left her with a bittersweet feeling in her soul. It made her wonder how long until the entire population forgot about the Gods. How long until they for about her.
"Mythology," She tucked her lips into a pin-straight line, "What a word that is. It means folklore, legend, stories. I could go on and on about what it means," She leaned against a marble countertop, "But that would only delay your knowledge of the truth. The Greek Gods are anything but myths." Pythia paused too let her words sink in. Eddie blankly stared at the floor desperately thinking of the right words to express her emotions.
"What kind of Percy Jackson shit is this?" She settled on saying. Mino looked down trying to conceal a laugh. When it came to Eddie, as always, he hadn't expected that reaction. Stray blonde wisps of hair tangled themselves into his eyelashes. He blinked trying to get rid of the tingly feeling.
"Do you have something you'd like to share, Mino?" She pointed out upon seeing his struggle.
"Not really," He lifted his head up, "I don't feel like getting the wind knocked out of me." This time it was Pythia's turn to mask a small chuckle. "Continue the story. We're getting off track."
"When do you not?" Eddie butted in. She quickly flinched behind a pillow as Mino tried to push her. Pythia's heart sank. She liked the girl's fire. It was a shame what the future held for her. A future she couldn't speak of.
"Since you've read the Percy Jackson books I assume it's safe to skip the part about who the Greek Gods are and what the most known ones do. Since we don't have much time I'll make this fast. The Greek Gods are real. But unlike in the stories that have been passed down, they can indeed die. And they have. Except for..." Her mouth snapped shut and she closed her eyes in frustration. Not every gift was a blessing.
"Before they died," She began to explain again, "I saw it coming. Although couldn't tell them, I could help them. I gathered some of the most powerful and in my own opinion, trustworthy. I told them to separate some of their powers from there own vessel and send them to Earth."
"Why would you do that?" Eddie asked anxiously waiting for the story to end.
"Well I couldn't tell them but not that it is in the past, I am able to tell you. People's faith in their Gods was beginning to fade. With not enough people to keep their practices alive they would begin to die out. My hope was that if some of the Gods and Goddesses sent a gift in disguise as a Trojan Horse, they would survive." She hesitated to reflect on the right words to say.
"And so they sent down fragments of their powers," Mino continues for her. He knew that this is the part when explaining became painful for her. "If a person were to receive these powers, the Greek God they came from could control the person's actions. Then they could spread their religion and show the blessing they had received without abusing its power. The plan would have worked if The Maniots had not invaded the Greeks. Because of that, the fragments of power were never found and the Gods died," Mino looked at Pythia's tensing form and waited for a nod of approval to continue. They met each others gaze and slowly hooded. He continued on.
"Pythia took it upon herself to visit Earth and carry the fragments across the lands. Skip to last year, she found me. Deemed me worthy of carrying a power fragment, shaped like a sphere, and now here we are with six other idiots who don't know how to control their powers running around town."
