Equilibrium

Chapter 26: Luka's POV

Welp.

Here we go again. There's always a catch, isn't there? Just once, I want there to be no monsters or evil men trying to kill us. I know, I'm making it sound like I've been dealing with this shit for ages, but in the time that I have known about all this, being a demigod and such, I've been attacked by one too many monsters.

This time it was an evil chef guy with a spatula as a weapon. Pretty intimidating right? You wouldn't think so, except for the part where the person in possession of the relic could bring on a whole storm. No matter how pudgy the Monsieur Chef was, he was currently rather dangerous. I needed to distract him straight away.

I stood up and walked into the middle of the kitchen, pretending I was looking for something. This would be easy since acting is my strong suit, not to toot my own horn or anything.

His head swung around and he started shooting daggers from his eyes. Cheffy was in a bad mood.

I cleared my throat, deciding to play it dumb, "Excuse me, I was just wondering if I could talk to the head chef?"

He squinted his eyes, "Yes, that would be me. What do you need?" He had a thick Italian accent. Hold up, I could really bamboozle this guy, maybe befriend him? I find that when you speak someone's native tongue in a country where that language isn't spoken, they really suck up to you.

"Wow, this is definitely not why I'm here, but I like the way that relic looks around your neck." I said slyly, in Italian mind you.

His eyes widened and he cursed, "You are one of the two demigods that Lady Adrestia warned me about!"

Who now? Adrestia?

"Who's Adrestia?" I asked.

"My mistress. She has promised that if I kill you, she will give me the life that I deserve."

I peeked at Jackie crouching behind the refrigerator out of the corner of my eye. She looked confused as hell. Well of course she did, the only languages she spoke, as far as I knew, were English, some Ancient Greek, and attitude. Our eyes met and I silently told her to hold back.

"Well, you won't deserve much if you kill us." I retorted.

He furrowed his brows, "Killing is only... murder. It's not that bad of a thing." Is Cheffy really being serious right now?

"Yeah? Then I guess jail is just a room." His eyes widened, probably realizing that if he killed us he would have to figure out how to cover up his bad deeds.

I sighed, knowing that if I wanted Jackie and I to get out of here without causing any damage or getting into a fight, I would have to be sickly sweet and try to get this guy on our side.

"Listen," I said, walking closer to him, "You can't get someone else to get you the things you want. That has to come from you. You're the one who has to work for it. Like Jackie and I are doing right now! We're fighting for what we want! To complete this quest so we can save all of our friends."

Wow, how inspirational Luka. I mentally patted myself on the back for that.

Surprisingly, his eyes softened, "You're right, if I want something, I have to work for it myself." His eyes met mine, "It's the relic you want, isn't it?" I nodded. His hands shook as he took the bull talisman off his neck.

I grinned, that was so easy!

But of course, as life goes, Jackie had to ruin it. I get that she was unable to understand that whole conversation, Italian amiright, but couldn't she see that I had this in the bag?

Just as Cheffy was about to hand me the relic, Jackie jumped out and swiped it from his hand. She grabbed me by my arm and pulled me as fast as she could out the door.

"Jackie, what the hell?!!??!? I had that under control, why did you ruin it?" I spluttered.

She didn't answer me. In fact, she didn't say anything until we got back to Harper, hopped onto his back, and took off into the air. I was so fucking pissed at her. I know that we got the relic, but I was planning on asking him more about this Lady Adrestia that he said had got him to guard the relic.

"I told you I had a plan!" She giggled enthusiastically.

I ignored her.

In my head, I kept chanting the same thing over and over again: equilibrium, equilibrium, equilibrium, equilibrium. That's what I have to think about. Forgive her Luka, you still got out of there alive and with the relic, so why are you stressing?

My brain was about to explode. I can't do this. I hate her so much. Stuck up, ignorant, overly prideful bitch.

I can't tell her that, though.

As we flew on Harper higher into the sky, on our way to search for the next relic, Jackie kept mumbling about how well we did and how great her plan was. She rambled on and on about how being a Hermes kid had its perks and other annoying shit. Then she asked me what language I was speaking with the Chef, but I ignored her. She grumbled about how moody I was being, and again, I ignored her.

Ignore, ignore, ignore. That's the only thing I can do today. I didn't know what the next relic was or where we were headed, and I didnt care.

For the moment, I just needed to keep my temper in and not blow up.

This is hell.