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Sparks in the Flame

Grace

Grace:
Grace sat in the dirt with her shirt pulled up as Reed compared the map that had been burned on her back with the ones he’d brought with them.
“It doesn’t seem to match anything that I’ve seen. I don’t know where it goes. It only covers part of your back, Grace, almost like it’s incomplete.” He said. Nathan snatched the flashlight out of Reed’s hand.
“I bet I could figure out where it goes. After all, I am the son of the almighty Zeus.” Nathan said proudly, peering at Grace’s back. She groaned. If this kept up, the burns would heal before they figured out what the map meant. She pulled her shirt down and stood up, knocking Nathan and Reed over in the process. “Hey! What was that for?” Nathan complained.
Grace brushed her shorts off and slung her backpack over her aching shoulder. “As much as I love you two dummies staring at my back, we have more productive things we could be doing. There’s people in trouble, and it’s our job to fix it, mysterious map or not.” The boys, chastised, gathered their things and fell into step behind her as she followed the vague path that the Oracle had laid out for them.
“If I’m right, we should be coming up on that bus station soon.” Nathan said, hefting a pouch of drachmas out of his bag. “Did anything you found actually say who the demigod is that works there, or are we just supposed to guess?”
Suddenly, Grace stopped. Up ahead of her, the forest cleared, leading to a paved road. Across the street, in front of a small, dimly lit building, stood a woman, holding a raised sword over a large, snake-like creature with blazing red eyes and white spikes around its neck. As the boys realized what was happening, she grabbed them by their arms and pulled them down behind a bush with her.
“What is that thing?” Reed hissed, reaching for his bow. Grace grabbed his hand before he could get to it.
“No, Reed. Look, she can handle it.” Grace pointed back across the street, where the woman plunged the sword into the snake-creature’s head. It let out an ear-splitting shriek, then dissipated into golden dust, covering everything around it, including the woman. Grace grinned, facing the boys. “I think we found who we were looking for.” The woman brushed herself off and entered the building. “Let’s go!” Grace said, standing up.
Nathan pulled her back down. “She just killed that thing! How do we know if she’ll kill us too?” He hissed. Reed stood up.
“Well, I don’t see any other demigod bus stations around here, so I’m going.” Grace said, walking across the street. The boys, grumbling, followed her. A flickering lightbulb illuminated the entrance to the building, and a bell dinged as Grace pushed open the door. Inside, the walls were covered with taxidermy animals, mounted and rusting weapons, and dusty posters of pin-up girls from the 40s. Behind a wooden counter was the woman they’d seen outside. She was short, even shorter than Grace, with mousy hair and a dusting of freckles across her face. She was wearing a green plaid shirt and khakis, and was brushing golden monster dust off herself.
As they entered, she looked up at them with narrowed blue eyes. “Sorry kids, we’re closed at the moment.” She said. “There aren’t any buses running right now, but I can get you a schedule before you leave.”
“Actually, ma’am, we aren’t here for a normal bus.” Reed said, stepping forward and lowering his voice to a whisper. “Chiron sent us.” He lied.
The woman smiled and clapped her hands, coming out from behind the counter. “Ah! Why didn’t you say so?” She took ahold of Reed’s hand and shook it vigorously. “The name’s Abigail. How can I help?”
“Hi, I’m Grace, and this is Reed and Nathan. We’re actually on our first quest, and need a ride to, uh, here.” Grace said, opening her map and pointing to the city the Oracle had mentioned. Abigail looked at the map and narrowed her eyes.
“I think there’s a bus running there in about a half an hour.” She said. “You’re lucky you found me, this is the last stop on the route going West. You’re all welcome to hang around here while you wait.”
Grace grinned at Nathan, who gave her a thumbs-up. “Thank you so much! How much for three tickets?” She asked, motioning for Nathan to hand her the pouch of drachmas.
Abigail shook her head. “No, don’t worry about it. Chiron owes me a favor, and I love helping out young demigods like you on your first quest!” She said, smiling. “Anyways, I’ll be in the back for a bit if you all need anything!”
“Thank you!” Grace called out as Abigail disappeared into a room behind the counter. Once she was gone, Reed sat down at a booth in the corner and began studying the paper map they had, while Nathan began looking around.
Grace joined him in front of a dusty picture of three people pinned on the wall, two boys and a girl, who seemed to be a younger Abigail. Her hair was shorter and curlier, she was wearing round wire-frame glasses, and had braces. On her left stood a tall, reed-thin boy with shaggy black hair and pale skin. There was a certain familiar glint in his eyes, but Grace couldn’t quite put her finger on where she recognized it from. The other boy in the picture had cropped hair and warm brown eyes, and was smiling from ear-to-ear. They were wearing orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts, and all looked to be about Grace’s age or a little older, if she had to guess.
“Those were the best years of my life.” Came a voice behind Grace and Nathan. They both jumped. “Oh! I didn’t mean to scare you.” Said Abigail, who had come out from the back with some chips and waters, which she set down on a table next to them.
Grace recovered. “No, I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to intrude.” Abigail shook her head and unpinned the picture from the wall, smiling faintly.
“That’s okay. I wouldn’t have put it out here if I didn’t want it being seen. No, those were good memories. It was only a few years ago but it feels like a lifetime has passed since this was taken.”
Nathan looked at Grace, then at Abigail. “If you don’t mind talking about it, Abigail, who’re the other people in the picture?” He asked. By then, Reed had noticed them talking and had come up behind Grace to listen in.
Abigail sighed. “No, I don’t mind. The boy on my left is Luca. He was around 13 when this was taken I think, and I was about 16. The boy on my right was my twin brother, Alexander.”
Was?” Nathan hissed into Grace’s ear. She elbowed him, and he shut up.
“The three of us were about as close as could be, kind of like you all are.” Abigail continued.
If only she knew. Grace thought, somewhat bitterly.
“One day, we were playing capture the flag; Alexander and I on one team, Luca on the other. My team was winning, and we were closing in on the flag, which was placed in a cave with Luca and a few others guarding it. Alexander and I approached the guards, and while I fought one, he fought Luca, who, might I add, was very competitive, almost to a fault. My guard had drawn me outside the cave entrance, where we were sparring.” She paused and took a shaky breath. “Suddenly, there was a huge blast, and we were both knocked onto our backs. When the dust cleared, Luca was standing in front of the collapsed cave with his arm up, palm outwards. Alexander, well, he was inside the cave.”
Grace gasped and grabbed Nathan’s hand without realizing it. They met eyes and she quickly let go, focusing on Abigail again. “Everyone searched for days through the rubble, but they didn’t find his body, or even any of his clothing. Luca blamed himself for my brother’s death, as did most others. I, well, I never knew what to think. As for Luca, he became more and more withdrawn and dark, and eventually just left camp about a year later. I haven’t seen him since, and they’ve never found any of my brother’s remains, even though the space has been cleared and searched.”
They were all silent for a minute as Abigail stared at the picture in her hand. Grace eventually took a steadying breath and put her hand on Abigail’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry that happened to Alexander. I’m sure he was a wonderful person.”
Abigail nodded and smiled at Grace. “Well, enough of that depressing story for now. Snacks anyone?” She said, pinning the picture back on the wall and clapping her hands. They each took something from the tray, and Abigail went back behind the counter to return it. Grace sat down in a plush armchair near the picture. She knew Luca from somewhere, and it was killing her that she couldn’t remember.
“Hey, are you good?” Nathan came and perched on the arm of the chair, looking down at her with his head cocked. “I feel so bad for Abigail, losing her brother at such a young age.” Grace nodded in agreement. She’d just met Percy, and even though he was a little cocky, she couldn’t even imagine losing him.
“I’m okay, yeah. Just thinking.” She said. Nathan raised his eyebrow for an explanation. “Okay I know this sounds crazy, but I recognize Luca from somewhere, I just knowI do, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
Nathan scratched his head. “Hm. I don’t recognize him, so probably not anyone from camp. Someone from back home I’d have to guess, right?” He said.
“Yeah. That’s probably it, you’re right.” She said. Just an acquaintance from her other life, that was it. But Grace couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she knew him from somewhere else.
“Oh! The bus is here, y’all!” Came Abigail. “I have something for you, wait just a tick!” She said, rushing behind
Reed got up from studying the map and joined Grace and Nathan. As Grace was reaching down to pick up her backpack, something glinted in the corner of her eye. Hanging by a tack on the wall above her head was a small glass bottle on a string. Something in the back of Grace’s mind told her that that necklace meant something. She looked behind her. Abigail was still in the back room. Grace glanced at the boys, who were both looking at the map. She took the necklace off the tack and put it around her neck, tucking it under her shirt to study later.
At that moment, Abigail came out and handed them each a paper bag. “I made you all some lunch for the road, it’s a long trip!” They each thanked her, and boarded the dimly lit, almost empty bus heading straight for what Grace knew could very well be her first and last quest.

Notes

Hi everyone! I'm starting school again soon, so I've been pretty busy, but I really appreciate those who still read this! Things are heating up for Grace and the boys!
I'll post the next chapter asap and as always, I appreciate any comments and/or feedback you have!

xoxo, galeckey1234

Comments

@Draketheblogger
AGH omg thank you that just made my day!! <3

galeckey1234 galeckey1234
8/31/18

Thanks for creating a fanfic that us fans can enjoy I love it☺☺☺

@Chelsea_Delos
Thanks so much! <3 Glad to see you're back!

galeckey1234 galeckey1234
1/26/17

And I love the bit about the Kardashians

Chelsea_Delos Chelsea_Delos
1/24/17

Oooooo update!

Chelsea_Delos Chelsea_Delos
1/24/17