บท 23: Close call
[Lysandros Evermore, Camp Half-Blood]
"Thou art the monkey!" - She said, throughly pissed off. But there is no way I will let she treat me like shit for no fucking reason!
"Oh? Really? At least I know how to speak without sounding like some old relic of the past with some holier-than-thou attitude!" - Hol'up, I feel like I shouldn't have said that, but at the same time, I. Regret. Nothing!
"T-thou! H-how darest thou?!" - She managed to stutter through her gritted teeth, her eyes... became watery? Wait, is she going to cry?!
Welp, as they say, a man should know when to admit defeat. It seems I have touched some sensible subject, even if I am not too sure why? The way she speaks? Her age? Who knows?
"Haaa..." - I sigh at the situation in hand, just as she was about to run off somewhere, I extended my arm and took her hand, holding her in place - "Wait! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that!" - Seeing she had frozen in place, either because I touched her, or due to my words, I released her hand, before continuing - "Sorry about that too... I know you probably didn't even want to be here, and that it was Lady Artemis that asked you to do so, but please! Teach me about archery and hunting!" - I even bowed my head as I made the request.
There were a couple of unconfortable moments of silence, before I heard her make a question - "Why wouldst thou wish to learn this?"
I think for a few seconds, before feeling compeled to say something - "I want to become stronger... to protect the things that I have..." - I can't quite put my finger in it, but I would not be satisfied giving any other answer.
There were a couple more moments of silence, before she released an emotional sigh and agreed - "Very well... Follow me..."
She turned and started going deeper into the woods, and I hurriedly follow behind. On our way, I was surprised to hear her say something.
"And mine name is Zöe Nightshade. Forget it not!" - She exclaimed in a cold voice.
"That I will remember. Ms. Zöe" - Since she doesn't seem to want to talk, then let's not talk. She seemed satisfied with my answer, so it should be okay.
Not much time later, she crouched and started examining something in the ground.
"We art following a trail. To follow a trail is not merely to see with thine eyes, but to think with thine mind. Observe every broken branch, every shifted stone, and each mark upon the earth. The forest tells its tale to those who listen. Stray not from the path, for to do so is to court folly, and perhaps doom." - She explained, before turning to me.
"What dost thou see?" - She asked while looking into my eyes with an inquiring gaze.
I come over and take a look - "Is this not a track?" - I ask, and she nods.
"Yea, but what doth it tell thee?"
"It's as if something was being dragged here." - I look at her and she seem to nod as if to encourage me to continue talking - "There seem to be some footprints around as well? It seems to have many legs... 4? Maybe 6?"
"Indeed there art six." - She said, before continuing - "We may glean a few more truths from this, such as the size and the weight. This one, forsooth, should be nigh four feet in height and some six feet in length. As for its weight, I wouldst deem it no less than four hundred pounds. The thing it was dragging should weigh as much as it doth itself."
Whoa, she was really good at it, I'm impressed. She then gets up and continue walking, and I follow hurriedly from behind, both following the tracks we had found before.
Before long, we arrived in an open plain deep in the woods, where there was a huge earth mound, with some creatures resembling ants, but gigantic, going back and forth, some even carrying some metalic shining objects, or some dead creatures towards the top of the mound. Myrmekes.
Zöe then hurriedly got down, before pulling me down with her, we hid behind a bush. I tried to ask what she was doing, but she put a hand in my mouth, as if asking me not to make any noise, as she snuggled closer to me, so close I could even feel her breath on my ear, but before I could even understand what was going on, or appreciate the softness that had pressed against me, I noticed a large Myrmeke passing less than 5 meters away from us.
It looked around, making the both of us hold our breaths, as if checking for something suspicious, and, not finding anything, it just turned and left, back towards the mound. I look beside me, just to see Zöe's face an inch away from mine, our noses almost touching.
She hadn't noticed our ambiguous position yet, so I turn around again before she could register it. Seeing a bended and dirty golden helmet, laying around, hidden in the bushes. I manage to extend my hands towards it, and as soon as I touch it, a flood of memories that weren't mine, invaded my mind, causing me to space out for a while.
I saw some people wearing golden armor in a boat. Then I saw a place that looked like an armory filled with such golden armors, next I was in a smithy, watching someone forging a helmet. I then saw a fight.
It was a terrible sight. Hundreds of armed warriors fighting fiercely, some using bronze armor and weapons, others, golden ones, just like those I had just witnessed before, aling with a couple varied monsters in between. Blood flowed through the ground, leaving behind a muddy and gooey mess, some warm corpses would fall down every couple of seconds, victims to all the fighting. Limbs, bits of flesh, dropplets of blood, all flying through the air, making my stomach churn.
Then, after a long time had seemingly passed, I saw a man wearing a golden helmet being hit heavily on the head, by a monster wielding a giant cub. The sight was very harrowing, with the damaged golden helmet flying off quite some distance away, as the head it was protecting burst into gory pieces.
I then saw a lot of time pass, centered around the helmet, I saw snow fall, just to be melted by the sun, before falling once more, in what seemed like a huge cicle. Things kept going like that for a while, before a familiar creature found the helmet, picking it up in it's mandibles. A Myrmeke, that started bringing it towards the familiar earth mound, just to end ul dropping in near a bush, as it went to help it's fellow giant ants to fight against a huge creature that had invaded, only for the helmet to be forgotten afterwards.
That's when the flood of memories stopped, leaving me breathing roughly from what I had just experienced. What were those memories? It's just like what I had experienced when I touched Firefly.
Zöe seemed to notice something wrong with the position we were in, and with hurry, she got up, and looked at me with a glare, and a little redness on her cheeks, as if I had just taken advantage of her. Her glare morphed into a look of uncertainty and even a bit of worry, as she noticed my face was pale white, and that I had cold sweat all over.
"Art thou well? Calm thyself! They did not behold us." - She said, as if trying to comfort me in her own way, offering me a hand to help me back up.
"I'm... fine... it's not related with the Myrmekes, it seems I just accidentaly activated some demigod power I inherited from my mother." - Taking deep breaths to calm down my heart, I accepted her hand to get back up.
And we both started going back to the camp making our way through the woods. Before long, we were back on the place we first met.
Zöe looked at me and said - "My apologies for earlier. I had much upon my mind." - She seemed a bit embarassed.
"It's fine... I could have handled the situation better, no need for apologies." - I said with a small smile on my lips, while shaking my head slightly - "So, can I expect to meet you here again tomorrow for some more classes?" - I ask, as it was almost lunch time.
She seemed to pause to think for a moment, before responding with a nod.
Smiling at her, I bid her farewell - "Well! See you later then! Good luck with whatever is troubling you!" - I say and we part ways.
* * *
Author's Notes:
Sup guys? Hope you have all been well! Sorry for posting this a bit later than what I usually does, as it was pretty hard to write Zöe's lines, and think of how they would interact with each other.
Thanks for all the support and powerstones, and see you all tomorrow!
Peace out!
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