ELEVEN: AS THE PROPHECY FORETOLD (II).
1403 Words
I stared back at the girl who spoke, my brain turning into jelly for a moment. If I thought the guy was attractive, this girl was on a whole new level of beauty.
Despite the dim, bad lighting in the room, her skin was picture perfect, glowing like the moon had made a home under her cheeks and decided to adorn the surface with freckles as stars. Her brows were thick, full, perfectly shaped, and not a single piece was out of line. Long, thick lashes enclosed huge, honey colored eyes.
Everything about her was perfection. From the heart shaped face that was framed by a beautiful black hijab, to the perfectly aligned features arranged like a painting.
This girl, no, entity right here, was the most beautiful being to ever walk the face of earth.
Is she even human?
“Earth to stranger?” she said uncomfortably, waving her hands in the air, and breaking me out of my trance.
I must look like a freaking i***t.
“Yes?” I blurted out.
“I said how can you see the troll?” she repeated, staring at me suspiciously.
“What do you mean troll?”
I looked back to the body on the floor and staggered back, making an even bigger effort to not vomit out my dinner. The thing was full on green now, with humungous body parts and a badly broken head. I noticed its fingers twitching and I moved back even further, keeping a safe distance away.
“Troll. You… who are you people?”
“We could ask you the same question.” Adam replied, folding his hands defensively.
“Normal humans can’t see these kinds of creatures. So either you’re a half-blood, a witch, or a monster.” The girl said, stepping closer to me with each word, her eyes narrowing.
That was when it hit me.
The captivating beauty, the aura, the knowledge of half-bloods and the possibly dead troll on the floor.
“You’re the daughter of Aphrodite.”
“How did you know that?” she countered.
“You’re otherworldly beautiful and you know about monsters.” I stupidly explained, noticing her slightly scowl at the word ‘beautiful’.
“That still doesn’t answer my question.”
“I’m the daughter of Zeus.”
I don’t know what came over me that made me tell them. Was it the need to feel important? Was it because they needed an explanation and that was the only thing I had? I’ll never know, because the next instance, I felt a sharp blade cut through my arm.
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“Look, that was literally the only way to know if you were telling the truth or not.”
“Yeah, but a little ‘hey, I’m going to cut your arm to see if your blood is red, green, or black dust’ would have gone a long way.” I interjected back angrily.
The upper left arm of my hoodie was sliced open, and so was a little surface of my skin, which was now sporting an ugly Band-Aid.
Adam shrugged, and stood up from where he was squatting while inspecting my wound and muttered “Didn’t think it was necessary.”
I pretended to not hear him to prevent any further bickering.
“So what’s the deal? Why are you here in a hotel in Alverton with a dead troll on your floor?” I directed the question to Aliyah.
“It’s a long story. We ran away from a foster home in Bay Coast because we were about to be whisked away to a mental, or was it a rehabilitation institute… apparently, a Muslim girl with powers that can command people to do her bidding, and a black kid with inhuman strength is not a sight you see every day. Anyway, the closest town was here, Alverton, and the troll, well, it was a minor inconvenience.”
“How did you know of your powers and your parents?” I asked, hoping that I wasn’t being too nosy.
“We just did. It was like a fact, wired to the strongest part of our brain. No matter how many people called us crazy in the orphanages we grew up in, it was just there. I was the son of Ares, and I had powers. She was the daughter of Aphrodite and she had powers.” Adam answered.
“But enough about us. Why are you in Alverton? You’re the daughter of Zeus. Aren’t you supposed to be in Olympus dining with some important people and planning balls over tea?” he mocked.
I rolled my eyes and suppressed a huff.
“Well, up until two days ago, I didn’t know that I was the daughter of Zeus, and I had to go on a silly quest to rescue Olympus from some sort of unspeakable evil.”
“What broke the ice?”
“My foster mother was murdered, and my little sister and my best friend were kidn*pped. By who, I don’t know. But that is why I’m here. To find them, and find out the truth.”
Adams face softened as he looked down on the floor. For a moment, I thought he was going to say something, but then he abruptly got up and made an excuse to go out and get some air.
“Don’t mind him. He’s always like that when it comes to feelings and stuff. Not the best at empathy. I’m truly sorry about your foster mom.” Aliyah’s voice held genuine sadness.
“I figured. It’s fine.”
“If I was a hugger, I’d hug you right now, but I hate hugs.”
That made me grin.
“I should probably head back, and get some sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning. Is that okay?” I asked.
“Sure.”
“The troll… you need help with it?” I offered, halfheartedly, hoping she would say no. I really needed to catch some sleep and the troll looked gross. Not to mention sneaking out at almost 3am to dispose of a dead body.
“Nah, it’s perfectly fine. Adam will do it when he gets back.”
My prayers were answered.
“Goodnight then.”
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Saying that Leo had a crush on Aliyah was an understatement. The son of Hades was like a lovesick puppy when he met the daughter of Aphrodite. I guess that’s part of her powers… having an effect on people through her beauty and charms just like Helen of Troy. Silver on the other hand was quite chill with the idea of meeting Aliyah and Adam. It seemed like her witch instinct, or third eye, or whatever mysterious wisdom half witches had was working.
As it turned out, the two half-bloods we needed to get on with the quest were the daughter of Aphrodite and the son of Ares. At least that’s what Silver said.
Anyway, with the stone of guidance, an extremely beautiful yet mysterious half-blood, a hopeless lovesick puppy, a cat-obsessed witch, a dude who probably hates us all, and me, aka the person who has no idea what she’s doing, the quest was officially set in motion. Well, kind of.
“This is the third time we’ve circled this street. Are you sure were not lost?” I finally spoke up.
“I know where I’m going.” Adam fired back annoyingly.
“Whatever you say, big guy.” I shrugged.
Silver had dissolved the first stone in a bottle full of water she claimed was from river Styx; wherever that was. And according to her, we had to get to the edge of Alverton, the highest hill in the town. However, the scowling i***t in the driver’s seat has been circling the same street over and over again.
About seven minutes later, Adam huffed.
“This town is a maze.” He muttered.
“So we really are lost.” I replied almost in triumph that I was right.
“Something is wrong.” Aliyah alerted, lowering her headphones.
“I think someone is watching us…” Silver added, quickly locking the doors.
My heart rate picked up as I frantically looked around the street, trying to see if anything was out of place. The street was deserted, and most of the shops and apartments were closed or run down. I was about to ask if both of them were sure of what they felt when out of nowhere, fog engulfed everything.
Adam brought out a kitchen knife and I searched around the car for something to use as a weapon.
“Oh my gaga… guys, look…” Leo paled and pointed to something.
Directly in front of the car, the fog formed a shape, and out of that, a woman materialized.
She wore a long black dress, and her face was framed with huge nerd glasses and a black pixie haircut. She looked to be in her early twenties. The weirdest thing was the ton of books she carried, and the fog around her that was swirling with letters, symbols, and numbers just floating in the air.
“Who the hell is that?” I voiced out for everyone.
“That, my friend, is Athena; in the flesh.”
- Writer
