There Will Always Be Demigods
The Burnt Drachma
Emma
I didn’t want to attack Bailey. When I did I was screaming at myself to stop. But I couldn’t because of the curse; the stupid curse Hermes had put on me to teach me a lesson. The curse of Pandora’s Box.
When I heard the last line of the prophecy my heart sank, Beware the curse of Pandora’s box. I didn’t need to be a child of Athena to know who it was referring to. It made so much more sense now as to why Chiron had chose me to go on the quest, he knew about my curse and the prophecy.
The fact that my curse had been mentioned in the curse couldn’t mean anything good. When it takes over it is very hard for me to control it. If it got stronger Bailey or Theo or both could end up getting killed. It was a dangerous curse that fed on my curiosity and hope.
It was Theo calling my name that snapped me out of my thoughts and brought me back to the real world.
“Hey are you alright?” he asked.
“Yeah you look very pale,” Bailey said.
“I’m fine,” I lied, forcing a smile so the boys wouldn’t worry. I could tell neither of them bought it but there was no way I was going to tell them what was wrong. Instead I just shrugged and finished packing everything away.
It took me over forty five minutes to pack the tent away. It may have been self assemble but the Hephaestus cabin sure didn’t make putting it away that easy. Whilst I struggled with the tent the boys did everything else. I could hear them whispering whilst they put out the fire. Well I could hear Theo, Bailey was really just listening to him. I had no doubt they were talking about the prophecy, maybe even about me. I didn’t let it weigh on me, if I started to wonder what they were talking about the curse would resurface again. I couldn’t let that happen.
By the time the three of us were ready to go it was almost eleven am. We were just about to head back to the road when there was suddenly a sense that there was someone standing behind us.
We all turned around at the same time, weapons drawn, only to see a woman in a light blue dress. She was tall and slim and had a perfect tan. Both her hair and hear eyes were a dark chocolate brown colour. Her feet were bare but she wore and ankle bracelet which had lucky charms hanging off of it. She was smiling at us meaning neither one of us lowered our weapon. The last time a woman had smiled at us it nearly ended with Bailey being served as breakfast.
“Who are you?” Theo demanded levelling his arrow with the woman’s head.
“I am Tyche, Goddess of good luck and fortune.” As she spoke I felt something wave over me. I suddenly felt like no matter what I did I would win. I had no idea if Theo and Bailey felt the same but they both lowered their weapons. I myself put my knife back in it holder on my belt.
“What do you want?” Bailey asked cautiously. I understood his caution, Tyche was the hardest goddess to find, if she came to you it probably wasn’t just to say hi.
The goddess made a motion like she was flipping a coin but there was nothing there. A second after there was a flash in the air and a gold drachma landed in Tyche’s palm.
“I’m here to give this to Emma.” The goddess extended her palm to me, I took the coin. It was the same size as any other old drachma but one side was burnt.
“What is it?” Theo asked looking at the coin over my shoulder.
“It’s a coin of chance,” I said without thinking.
“Very clever,” Tyche said. “Your right, it’s my coin of chance. If you flip it and it lands on the golden side you will be blessed with good luck and fortune. However if it lands on the burnt you will be cursed with bad lack.”
“Why are you giving this to me?” I asked staring at the drachma in my hand.
“Quests are like games of chance,” the goddess replied, “and there is no doubt you are going to need this coin on this quest.”
I looked up at Tyche, there was no longer a smile on her face. “Use it wisely, child of Athena, you can only flip it three times and only at the right time will it land on the side of good luck and fortune.”
“How is she meant to know the right time?” Theo asked; I could hear annoyance in his voice. He was obviously not enjoying Tyche’s visit.
“She’ll know,” the goddess answered smiling at me again. “Farewell young heroes.”
All three of us knew what was coming next. We all shielded our eyes as the goddess turned into her true form and vanished. When she was gone the boys and I just stood looking at the burnt side of the coin.
“What now?” Theo asked, finally breaking the silence.
“We keep moving,” I replied as I put the drachma in my back pocket. “I have a feeling the prophecy said we only had six days so we better get going.”
“But we have no idea where to go.” Bailey chipped in.
He was right, we had no idea where the lost campers were. Chiron had said he lost contact with them somewhere in the south but he wasn’t sure exactly where they were. He also told us they were on a quest to find something but Chiron didn’t tell us what.
We spent another few minutes in silence, each one of us trying to figure out what the next step would be. I came up blank which obviously frustrated me. As a child of Athena I liked knowing what to do next and coming up with a plan. I could see that Bailey had no clue what to do either. In the end it was Theo who had an idea.
“Burning rocks,” he whispered.
“What?” I asked still annoyed that I wasn’t able to come up with a plan.
“Burning rocks,” he shouted. “The line With lost friends found at burning rocks.”
“What about it,” Bailey asked.
“Back near my home in Alabama there was this pond that had these strange rocks. Anytime you picked one up it would burn your hand, almost like they were on fire. The place was nicknamed Burning Rocks pond, me and my brother...” He trailed off, obviously thinking about his brother made him sad. I didn’t understand why but Theo’s eyes that were shining so brightly suddenly dimmed, like a cloud was passing over the sun.
“That’s where we should go then,” I said trying to hold back my curiosity about Theo and his brother. Neither of the boys said anything back so I assumed we had silently agreed on the plan and headed back into the forest walking in the direction of the road.
Theo and Bailey both followed but I could tell something was troubling them. Theo was looking at the ground as he walked and looked like he was trying to hold back tears. I had a feeling going back home to Alabama was not something Theo wanted to do.
I didn’t want to attack Bailey. When I did I was screaming at myself to stop. But I couldn’t because of the curse; the stupid curse Hermes had put on me to teach me a lesson. The curse of Pandora’s Box.
When I heard the last line of the prophecy my heart sank, Beware the curse of Pandora’s box. I didn’t need to be a child of Athena to know who it was referring to. It made so much more sense now as to why Chiron had chose me to go on the quest, he knew about my curse and the prophecy.
The fact that my curse had been mentioned in the curse couldn’t mean anything good. When it takes over it is very hard for me to control it. If it got stronger Bailey or Theo or both could end up getting killed. It was a dangerous curse that fed on my curiosity and hope.
It was Theo calling my name that snapped me out of my thoughts and brought me back to the real world.
“Hey are you alright?” he asked.
“Yeah you look very pale,” Bailey said.
“I’m fine,” I lied, forcing a smile so the boys wouldn’t worry. I could tell neither of them bought it but there was no way I was going to tell them what was wrong. Instead I just shrugged and finished packing everything away.
It took me over forty five minutes to pack the tent away. It may have been self assemble but the Hephaestus cabin sure didn’t make putting it away that easy. Whilst I struggled with the tent the boys did everything else. I could hear them whispering whilst they put out the fire. Well I could hear Theo, Bailey was really just listening to him. I had no doubt they were talking about the prophecy, maybe even about me. I didn’t let it weigh on me, if I started to wonder what they were talking about the curse would resurface again. I couldn’t let that happen.
By the time the three of us were ready to go it was almost eleven am. We were just about to head back to the road when there was suddenly a sense that there was someone standing behind us.
We all turned around at the same time, weapons drawn, only to see a woman in a light blue dress. She was tall and slim and had a perfect tan. Both her hair and hear eyes were a dark chocolate brown colour. Her feet were bare but she wore and ankle bracelet which had lucky charms hanging off of it. She was smiling at us meaning neither one of us lowered our weapon. The last time a woman had smiled at us it nearly ended with Bailey being served as breakfast.
“Who are you?” Theo demanded levelling his arrow with the woman’s head.
“I am Tyche, Goddess of good luck and fortune.” As she spoke I felt something wave over me. I suddenly felt like no matter what I did I would win. I had no idea if Theo and Bailey felt the same but they both lowered their weapons. I myself put my knife back in it holder on my belt.
“What do you want?” Bailey asked cautiously. I understood his caution, Tyche was the hardest goddess to find, if she came to you it probably wasn’t just to say hi.
The goddess made a motion like she was flipping a coin but there was nothing there. A second after there was a flash in the air and a gold drachma landed in Tyche’s palm.
“I’m here to give this to Emma.” The goddess extended her palm to me, I took the coin. It was the same size as any other old drachma but one side was burnt.
“What is it?” Theo asked looking at the coin over my shoulder.
“It’s a coin of chance,” I said without thinking.
“Very clever,” Tyche said. “Your right, it’s my coin of chance. If you flip it and it lands on the golden side you will be blessed with good luck and fortune. However if it lands on the burnt you will be cursed with bad lack.”
“Why are you giving this to me?” I asked staring at the drachma in my hand.
“Quests are like games of chance,” the goddess replied, “and there is no doubt you are going to need this coin on this quest.”
I looked up at Tyche, there was no longer a smile on her face. “Use it wisely, child of Athena, you can only flip it three times and only at the right time will it land on the side of good luck and fortune.”
“How is she meant to know the right time?” Theo asked; I could hear annoyance in his voice. He was obviously not enjoying Tyche’s visit.
“She’ll know,” the goddess answered smiling at me again. “Farewell young heroes.”
All three of us knew what was coming next. We all shielded our eyes as the goddess turned into her true form and vanished. When she was gone the boys and I just stood looking at the burnt side of the coin.
“What now?” Theo asked, finally breaking the silence.
“We keep moving,” I replied as I put the drachma in my back pocket. “I have a feeling the prophecy said we only had six days so we better get going.”
“But we have no idea where to go.” Bailey chipped in.
He was right, we had no idea where the lost campers were. Chiron had said he lost contact with them somewhere in the south but he wasn’t sure exactly where they were. He also told us they were on a quest to find something but Chiron didn’t tell us what.
We spent another few minutes in silence, each one of us trying to figure out what the next step would be. I came up blank which obviously frustrated me. As a child of Athena I liked knowing what to do next and coming up with a plan. I could see that Bailey had no clue what to do either. In the end it was Theo who had an idea.
“Burning rocks,” he whispered.
“What?” I asked still annoyed that I wasn’t able to come up with a plan.
“Burning rocks,” he shouted. “The line With lost friends found at burning rocks.”
“What about it,” Bailey asked.
“Back near my home in Alabama there was this pond that had these strange rocks. Anytime you picked one up it would burn your hand, almost like they were on fire. The place was nicknamed Burning Rocks pond, me and my brother...” He trailed off, obviously thinking about his brother made him sad. I didn’t understand why but Theo’s eyes that were shining so brightly suddenly dimmed, like a cloud was passing over the sun.
“That’s where we should go then,” I said trying to hold back my curiosity about Theo and his brother. Neither of the boys said anything back so I assumed we had silently agreed on the plan and headed back into the forest walking in the direction of the road.
Theo and Bailey both followed but I could tell something was troubling them. Theo was looking at the ground as he walked and looked like he was trying to hold back tears. I had a feeling going back home to Alabama was not something Theo wanted to do.
When will you update this?!
10/25/14