Davis

"The Seven are supposed gather In a city some distance from here," Hades says. " Go there, and on the way you will find the twins,"

"Twins?"

" Yes the two are twins," Hades says " You have a long distance to travel and not much time, so go,"

the world starts to drain away, and distance starts to come between and Hades.

"Where?!" I say

"keep heading South!" He says "You will stop when you meet them!"

he keeps getting farther and farther, his voice getting fainter and fainter, until I can't make out his words and face.

I am One of the Seven. I don't know what that means or what they are, or who they are, other than me and that Max guy. If we need all of them together I'm going to do what it takes to do that, for Izzy.

I walk the streets of town, just meandering down south, a million things on my mind like Izzy, The Seven, My dad, stuff like that. People look at me strangely, as if the whole community is trying to disown me.

I am used to it, in fact I prefer it. I was always known as the freak until I met Izzy.

Hades said in a few days more people like me will come, and maybe I won't be the only freak anymore.

Maybe.

《《《

I lay there, on the hard rock listening to the cries and howls of the Wave. Moving would attract something, so I don't, but I'm so scared I don't even know If I could even if I tried.

At the end of each "day" a deafening mysterious crash sounds, drawing all the monsters and demons out from I don't know and they are usually very pissed off, so half of them just start killing each other, and I don't want to be in the middle of that.

I call this the Wave, and it is the most terrifying thing ever.

I've only been in the Underworld only a few days, but endured the Wave three times. Each time I almost died of fear and anticipation.

I don't know how much longer I can do this. One time Something is going to find me, and I know I can't fight it off, unless it's something small and easy to kill, like a slug. Sadly the only thing like that are slugs. Everthing else is either big and powerful, like a troll, Beast or giant or something quick and smart like a harpy or an Underite.

Fear keeps me completely still and I keep my breath low, waiting for the Wave to end, and I don't know when because it always ends at different time.

I count in my head how many seconds it lasts, to try and find a pattern which could maybe help me somehow.

The first night was only a half hour. The second was around an hour, and last night it was about two hours.

I hate how it seems to get longer every night, and how I seem to get weaker every day while I keep getting worse.

I can't sleep in here I can't find any food and I have to constantly run away from everything and then find a safe hiding spot by the time the twelve hours of the day so all my muscles are sore. Luckily though I have water, but sadly not enough for the day after tomorrow.

I sit there, and then I hear a sound. It's a slight shuffling near the top of the hole. My eyes widen, terrified.

It gets louder, and I pull my knife out. Freaking out, I wait for something to happen, my knuckles white and shaking on the handle.

I jump as something rolls down into my ditch. I shuffle back, pointing my knife at it.

I wait for it to move, but then I realize something.

It looks human, and I hear crying. It lays on its side, covering its face. I lower my knife and say,

" Who are you?"

It sits up and gasps, facing away. It scoots against the wall, its long dirty black hair covering its face and a lot of the torso.

I then see the blood on the hip.

"What's wrong?"

It raises its hands and a green energy forms on them. I shuffle back, afraid that it might throw the energy and I'll disintegrate.

But instead it puts it on the bloody wound on its side It grunts and gasps, and I realize it's a girl. She keeps her hand on the wound. She cries, and I put my hand on her shoulder.

She stops, and lifts her hand and the wound is gone.

"Woah." I say.

She pulls her hair out of her face, revealing long cheeks, blue eyes and a beautiful smile.

"What was that?" I say, pointing to her side.

"What are you not a Demigod or something?" she asks "That'd be crazy,"

"I am," I say with a little sneer, "But I've never seen anything like that,"

"It's just a little Hecate-magic" She says, shrugging her shoulders.

"Hecate?" I ask

"Yeah," She says "Y'know? Goddess of Magic?"

"Oh yeah," I remind myself of her.

"yeah," She smiles. I smile back, and both of us sit there looking at each other, happy that there is another person.

"I'm Davis, son of Hades," I break the silence, holding out my hand.

"Oh," She grabs my hand and shakes it, "I'm Isabella, daughter of Hectate, but just call me Izzy,"

》》》

"Help!"Someone yells. I look over and see a man pushing another man to the wall in the alley next to me. He says something about money and shakes the other man. "Help!"

I stand there, fighting against myself.

I am no hero. I have learned in the Underworld that heroism gets you killed. I was lucky to survive after trying to be a hero. The man probably deserves it from what I know.

But the man needs help. He looks over to me reaching out yelling "Help me!!"

The other man starts punching him in the gut and face.

I feel sympathy, and the urge to help, but I can't be a hero. That's just the way it is.

"I'm sorry," I mutter and shake my head.

I start to walk away, ignoring the man's screams.

"HELP!" The man shrieks, and I stop, I have to help.

I walk into the alley, closer to the man doing the beating, getting faster and faster.

I kick him on the side and he grunts, falling back. I slam my fist into his nose, and then I punch his cheek.

"Gggrrrrrrrr!" he grunts and charges at me, getting ready to punch me. He swings and I duck, and shoot for his legs, pick him up and slam him on the alley ground

We fall and he luckily falls to my side and not on top. I quickly get up but he grabs my foot. I kick him with my other foot a few times and then stomp on his hand. he lets go and I kick him one more time.

"don't! " he coughs. "please," He lays on the ground nose bleeding balled up, arms covering his head.

I turn away and look at the other man. He stands still, almost frightened.

"You're welcome." I mutter, spit and then walk away.

《《《

"So," I say, breaking the silence "Have you been down awhile?"

Izzy shakes her head, "Nope, only about a day or two, but I don't really know how to keep track of time down here, y'know?"

"yeah," I say, " and uh, do you always just make green healing stuff like that when you get hurt?"

"what?" She tilts her head and asks, and then she says " oh you mean the magic"

"Yeah," I say "sure the magic, you do that alot?"

"only if I really need it, like If I get stabbed or something that makes me bleed real bad," She says "not if it's just a scratch or bruise y'know?,"

"oh," I scratch my head.

I cough, my throat very sore and dry, I haven't had anything to drink in days.

" what's wrong?" Izzy tilts her head.

"nothing, just thirsty," I say, my voice hoarse, "very thirsty,"

"Well then drink something, " She laughs.

"I wish it was that easy," I say " I don't have anything to drink"

" then have some of mine," She hands over a full water bottle with ease. My eyes widen, and I swipe it out of her hand like a maniac and start gulping. The water rushing down my throat refreshes me and tastes amazing.

"Woah carefull you crazy," She laughs "drink it too fast and you'll barf it all out again."

"Where did you get this?" I gasp.

"At the spring," She says "not far from here,"

"What!?" I say, shuffling up "let's go!"

"wait," she says "the Wave is still going on you know,"

"oh yeah," I sit back down " I guess so,"

"How much time do you think we have left in the wave?" I say, trying to break the awkwardness, but it is hard to say something when you are hiding in a hole in the Underworld

"Probably fifteen min..." Izzy started, stopped by a howl, closer than the others, so close it had to be just thirty feet from our hole.

"Great," I mutter. "I just eased up!"

"It might be just passing by," Izzy says

"Ssshh," I hold my finger to my lips.

I slowly freak out, expecting that is the one time I won't make it.

A loud scurrying echoes above. I look up and see something looking down on us. The creature has a long neck with a triangular head with two slits for eyes. An exoskeleton covers the outside of the creature like a full suit of armor. Six long legs protrude from the abdomen twice as long as my body.

"Freak," I say looking to Izzy "Get behind me," I grab a rock the size of my fist because my knife won't do much good with the shell and generate some energy in my left hand.

"No way" she steps beside me, yellow energy glowing in her hands. "Just an ant."

"What?" I say

"That's just what I call them," She says, the yellow intensifying.

It jumps down in the hole croaking a weird clicking sound somewhat mechanical. A high screech mixes with the clicking as the ant prepares to attack us.

》》》

I sit on the side of a street somewhat on the outside of the city by the suburban. The sun set a few hours ago leaving the moon and streetlights to make sure we see. I watch the cars zip by headlights coming and going.

Most people would be scared in some random city at night, scared of some "monster" of a person to come. I'm not afraid, because I'm a monster too.

I lay down beside the curb on the soft grass and close my eyes. Darkness and the sound of cars keep me company as I start to sleep.

And then the dreams came back. I sit on the same place that I was just before I fell asleep same thing same way. Except no cars and instead of a clean new road dust, garbage and rocks span out on the old extremely cracked and buckled asphalt. The houses have smashed Windows and kicked in doors. Clouds covering the entire sky seem to be made of dust and rusty making the sky a rusty brown.

I find myself start to meander around investigating, wondering what on Earth happened. I go down the road, and below me a half mile or so away a highway rolls out.

Rusty cars pack all the lanes leading out the city, some of them squeezing between lanes and others branching off and tried to drive on the grass, resulting in crashes on and off the road.

I continue down the road and no sign of life is anywhere. I come to a little plaza with a couple of dusty, boarded up abandoned stores. Not only do old cars decorate the place but tanks and war jeeps sit sonetimes tipped or barely holding together.

Then I notice the bodies. Dead soldiers dressed in camo litter the ground either sitting next to cover or sprawled out guns lying next to them. Normal people also litter the ground.

Death everywhere. Instead of shock, a somewhat connection to the people here overwhelm me. These people obviously died in complete chaos. They were in hell, which I can relate with.

I start sliding back against my own will. Father away from the plaza I go as a deep thrumming sound gets louder.I can tell something is about to happen. Just as the sound seems right behind me I turn around.

I stand at a crater where reddish-brown smoke cover the hole as it rises. I can't see how deep it is but I can sense it being deeper than I can comprehend.

The ground beneath me rumbles and shakes as a shadow moves within in the crater. Suddenly, a humongous mass of purple. Erupts out, rising out of the hole. The wall of the starry-night purple doesn't stop as I marvel at the sheer size.

Finally it stops. It takes me a minute to take it all in. Two large cylinder-like things literally almost bigger than the whole highway and definitely more than twice as thick as some huge redwood tree. They connect to an unexplainably large purple block with more purple redwood tree things extending out. At the top sits a pale blob almost scraping the clouds.

What in the world is this? I think. Mind blown, I realize its a body with legs arms and a head. I realize that it is a fricking huge giant wearing grand purple armor.

The plate covering his shoulder alone probably weighs more than the biggest building at the plaza I was at. (Which was a good sized movie theater.) Etchings showing beutiful line designs seem to almost move in different ways while even some parts have designs of amazing galaxy things, and etchings of events of some history.

The Gods think they can keep control of All. Zeus thinks he can remain the king. He thinks Olympus will survive. A booming bang of words echoes off everything in a low thrum, he continues; Olympus will crumble. The little dirtball the gods prize as Earth will fail, just like every other planet Olympus has blessed. I will claim everything the TitanHouse took from me.

It, he, what ever you want to call the giant then turns it head to look at me. It basically looks like a gnarly bodygaurd decided to become CEO of the world. His face is more than professional and of power, it is all like divine and limitless. The giant is bald and has big cheeks with barely any cheekbone. He has a large chubby cleft chin. He does sort of look like a fatty but at the same time his face is sleek and slim. But then again his face is alot of things.

His eyes are the worst part. They are white and clear and gazeful. He stares at me and looking into his eyes is very intense, and I swear the universe isn't the biggest thing ever anymore. Too intense that I fall down, the air escaping me as the last thing I see is what may be the truth of eternity.

The sun sends light rays over the mountains as it rises. Cars still drive past and I sit up, my back slightly aching. I yawn and grab my backpack, standing up. I walk south slinging the pack on my back starting to think about the dream. The one that probably had serious meaning. A meaning that makes me afraid of stuff again, which isn't fair because I survived two years in literal hell. There is something much bigger than the Gods.